Most delegates in the U.S. Constitutional Convention in 1787
recognized the value of constitutional safeguards against excess democracy, or
mob rule. The U.S. House of Representatives was to be the only democratically
elected federal institution—the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Supreme Court, and even
the U.S. Presidency were to be filled by the state legislatures, the U.S.
President and U.S. Senate, and electors elected by citizens, respectively. The
people were to be represented in the U.S. House and the State governments in
the U.S. Senate. The Constitutional Amendment in the early twentieth century
that made U.S. senators selected by the people
rather than the governments of
the States materially unbalanced the original design. In terms of the selection
of the U.S. president by electors, the political parties captured them such
that whichever party’s candidate wins a State, the electors there are those of
the winning party. Even if the electors could vote contrary to the popular vote
in a State, such voting could only be a rare exception given the party-control.
Hence the electors have not been able to function as intended—as a check
against excess democracy. The case of Russian interference in the presidential
election of 2016 presents an additional use for the Electoral College, were it
to function as designed and intended. Of course, this is a huge assumption to
make, even just in taking into account the American mentality regarding
self-governance.
The full essay is at "How American Presidents Are Selected."
