http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/ rock out to the apparatus Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:43:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1369 Harrison Thu, 26 Aug 2004 23:41:00 +0000 http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1369 The Federalism argument has to be addressed, even if it’s not the best argument, because it’s one most important political arguments that prop it up. I think it’s important to address the argument in the article you cite (and I do, in my blog), but I don’t think that the argument would play an important role in saving or getting rid of the EC. (It’s a hard sell as a political argument. How would it interest a state legislature? How would they sell it to their constituents?) The Federalism argument has to be addressed, even if it’s not the best argument, because it’s one most important political arguments that prop it up. I think it’s important to address the argument in the article you cite (and I do, in my blog), but I don’t think that the argument would play an important role in saving or getting rid of the EC. (It’s a hard sell as a political argument. How would it interest a state legislature? How would they sell it to their constituents?)

]]> http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1368 All Day Permanent Red Thu, 26 Aug 2004 20:07:00 +0000 http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1368 <strong>Mathmatical defense of the Electoral College</strong> Yami responds here to my post, The Electrical College, and to the comments that followed the post. She cites an article, “Math Against Tyranny,” written before the Florida debacle, in 1996. Natapoff, the mathematician whose work forms the basis o… Mathmatical defense of the Electoral College
Yami responds here to my post, The Electrical College, and to the comments that followed the post. She cites an article, “Math Against Tyranny,” written before the Florida debacle, in 1996.
Natapoff, the mathematician whose work forms the basis o…

]]> http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1367 yami Thu, 26 Aug 2004 19:13:00 +0000 http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1367 D’oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you personally thought the Federalist argument had any particular popularity or strength - but you *did* choose to argue against the Federalists without devoting much space to other arguments for the EC. I think that was an ineffective choice; the kinds of arguments I outlined above appear to have stronger foundations, and appeal to a general principle (restraining the power of the majority over the minority) that’s much broader and, I think, more important than plain ol’ Federalism. And by “win-by-districts” I don’t mean Congressional districts specifically - you’re right that they’re too heavily gerrymandered to be of any use for anything. I mean any arbitrarily drawn districts that are heterogeneous without being dominated by any one voting bloc; we could tally votes by Social Security number or government-issue middle names if we wanted. D’oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you personally thought the Federalist argument had any particular popularity or strength - but you *did* choose to argue against the Federalists without devoting much space to other arguments for the EC. I think that was an ineffective choice; the kinds of arguments I outlined above appear to have stronger foundations, and appeal to a general principle (restraining the power of the majority over the minority) that’s much broader and, I think, more important than plain ol’ Federalism.
And by “win-by-districts” I don’t mean Congressional districts specifically - you’re right that they’re too heavily gerrymandered to be of any use for anything. I mean any arbitrarily drawn districts that are heterogeneous without being dominated by any one voting bloc; we could tally votes by Social Security number or government-issue middle names if we wanted.

]]> http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1366 Harrison Thu, 26 Aug 2004 18:23:00 +0000 http://greengabbro.net/2004/08/26/broken-pipes-and-the-electoral-college/#comment-1366 Hey, thanks for the reply. I’m not sure what you mean by “the premise is flat-out wrong.” I was addressing a standard argument in favor of the EC — Federalism — but I was not claiming that it was the best argument for it. In the recent comments, I also mention, as you do here, that the conditions that made Federalism attractive 200 years ago don’t seem to hold today. I also took up the win-by-district issue. The problem is that the districts *are* heavily gerrymandered. I think that’s an even harder problem to address than reform of the EC. Given how unlikely it is that we would see a (fair) redistricting of the entire nation, I still think the best solution is a simple popular vote. Hey, thanks for the reply.
I’m not sure what you mean by “the premise is flat-out wrong.” I was addressing a standard argument in favor of the EC — Federalism — but I was not claiming that it was the best argument for it. In the recent comments, I also mention, as you do here, that the conditions that made Federalism attractive 200 years ago don’t seem to hold today.
I also took up the win-by-district issue. The problem is that the districts *are* heavily gerrymandered. I think that’s an even harder problem to address than reform of the EC. Given how unlikely it is that we would see a (fair) redistricting of the entire nation, I still think the best solution is a simple popular vote.

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