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Presidential Selection: Complex Problems and Simple Solutions
Author(s) -
BEST JUDITH A.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
political science quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.025
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1538-165X
pISSN - 0032-3195
DOI - 10.2307/20202304
Subject(s) - presidential system , electoral college , selection (genetic algorithm) , political science , subject (documents) , politics , state (computer science) , witness , simple (philosophy) , presidential campaign , public administration , law , library science , computer science , epistemology , philosophy , algorithm , artificial intelligence
Our method of selecting a president is not entirely what the Framers of the Constitution envisioned in 1787. It has changed and developed in several ways, but it still is compatible with and supportive of the American idea of de mocracy. The American idea of democracy is complex, not simple; federal, not all-national; consensual, not strictly majoritarian. The political slogan "all power to the people" is not one our Founders would have endorsed. Their slo gan was "all power to no one," not even the numerical majority. As James Mad ison pointed out in The Federalist, No. 47, all power in the hands of the many is a form of tyranny. The goal of the Founders was liberty, and because they had decided on a democratic republic, they had to find a way to balance liberty and equality. Their solution to the problem of majority tyranny was a system of concurrent majorities that not only divides the powers of the national gov ernment by function, but also divides, shapes, and structures all governing ma jorities under a federal principle. This form of government seeks more than majority rule; it seeks majority rule with minority consent. To gain that consent, it must give minorities of all kinds the opportunity to be a part of the majority. These opportunities are created in two ways: first,