Political Science

US Electorial Process

Electing the President of the United States is a collaborative effort between the American citizens , the legislative branch and the electoral college . However , the latter tends to hold a considerable significance in the election process . In addition , the 12th , 20th and 25th amendments in the constitution identifies all of the possible situations in selecting , maintaining and discharging from office the President of the United States . Most importantly , these amendments in the constitution serves to limit the power of the President so that he will not be able to

abuse it . This is because the framers of the constitution saw the need for it before it arose by considering the ethical implications of the matter , which a political philosophy explains

The American public vote every four years for the President of the country . The vote that they cast is known as the popular vote . Another vote is casted by the electoral college . The people that make up the electoral college are often selected [for] their service and dedication to their political party . They may be State elected officials .or persons who have a personal or political affiliation with the Presidential candidate (Frequently Asked Questions , 2008 . Others may be involved in the political arena due to their role as an activist or party leader , which in turn is a factor that contributes to these people being even considered to be a part of the electoral college (Bonsor , n .d . While there are some that may personally campaign for the position (Bonsor , n .d

In essence , the popular vote usually influences the people in the electoral college in who they will cast their vote for . For example all 55 of California 's electoral votes go to the winner of that State election (Frequently Asked Questions , 2008 . There are even some states that fine electors who do not vote in accordance to the popular vote (Frequently Asked Questions , 2008 . However , political parties may extract pledges from electors to vote for the parties ' nominees (Frequently Asked Questions , 2008 . The considerable importance of the electoral vote was felt in very few instances wherein the winner of the electoral vote , not the popular vote-as expected , became the nation 's President . Such was the case during the election that transpired in 1824 , 1876 , 1888 , and 2000 (United States Electoral College , 2008

In addition , the number of electoral votes depend on two Senators-which is the standard number for any state-and the number of representatives from each state the latter varies depending on the state 's population The size of the electoral college has been set at 538 .since the election of 1964 (United States Electoral College , 2008 . About half of the electoral vote , which is 270-can be more as well , is needed by the President to win the election (United States Electoral College 2008 . If of the presidential candidate receives the majority of the votes , the House of Representatives will choose between three presidential candidates with the most votes during the mass election (United States...