Explain the purpose and function of the Electoral College. How are its members chosen? How does the Electoral College reflect the will of the people?
(4 points)
The purpose of the Electoral College is to formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. It functions by having each state choose electors, who then cast their votes for the President and Vice President based on the popular vote in their state.
The members of the Electoral College are chosen through a process determined by each state's legislature. Typically, political parties nominate electors who are loyal to their party's candidate, and these electors are then chosen by the state's voters in the general election.
The Electoral College is intended to reflect the will of the people by giving each state a number of electors based on their representation in Congress (number of senators plus number of representatives). This means that smaller states have a proportionally larger influence in the Electoral College than they would in a purely popular vote system. Ultimately, the candidate who wins the popular vote in each state receives all of that state's electoral votes, and the candidate who receives a majority of the electoral votes becomes the President.
While the Electoral College is designed to reflect the will of the people, there have been instances in which a candidate has won the popular vote but lost in the Electoral College, leading to debates over the fairness and effectiveness of the system.