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Pinning a Face on the Electoral College: A Survey of the Class of 2000

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 October 2004

Robert Alexander ,
David Brown  and
Jason Kaseman
Robert Alexander
Affiliation:
Ohio Northern University
David Brown
Affiliation:
Ohio Northern University
Jason Kaseman
Affiliation:
Ohio Northern University
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Extract

The 2000 presidential election was an historic election. Many Americans revisited that institution given its perfunctory three paragraphs in their high school civics texts—the Electoral College. The closeness of the election and the ambiguity of electoral versus popular votes made many question how presidents are chosen. The realization that citizens vote not for candidates, but for electors further complicated understanding. Although many experts detailed the reasons for the Electoral College, the problems associated with it, and the infamous elections resulting from it, little was said about those for whom we actually cast our ballots. Simply put, we know surprisingly little about those who serve as electors. The conventional wisdom is that electors are chosen for their party service and/or their financial contributions. Beyond this impressionistic understanding, a great vacuum of knowledge exists.

Type
Features
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2004 , pp. 833 - 838
Copyright
© 2004 by the American Political Science Association

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References

American National Election Studies. 2000. Center for Political Studies. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Center for Responsible Politics. <http://www.opensecrets.org>. All data are from Federal Election Commission reports..+All+data+are+from+Federal+Election+Commission+reports.>Google Scholar
CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, November 11–12, 2000.Google Scholar
Longley Lawrence, and Neal Peirce. 1999. The Electoral College Primer 2000. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
United States Bureau of the Census. 2000.Google Scholar