tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post122804136638781818..comments2024-03-28T04:26:30.557-05:00Comments on Boston 1775: The Green StatesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-83126002689732893392008-10-04T19:43:00.000-05:002008-10-04T19:43:00.000-05:00There’s little documentation for how the Constitut...There’s little documentation for how the Constitutional Convention of 1787 decided on an Electoral College (a term that didn’t arise until decades later, by the way). <BR/><BR/>To start with, that convention was semi-secret, and its members were discouraged from letting any news of their deliberations get out to the public. <A HREF="http://www.thegreenpapers.com/Hx/ElectoralCollege.html" REL="nofollow">This article by Richard E. Berg-Andersson</A> offers some historical detail on what delegates proposed for a “national executive.” <BR/><BR/>But, as that article says, the Electoral College described in the original Constitution came out of a committee, and one effect/purpose of committees back then was to take discussions out of the public record. Other committees with wonderful names like the Committee on Detail and the Committee on Unfinished Portions tried to fill in gaps.<BR/><BR/>That means we know that various delegates—James Wilson, Elbridge Gerry, and others—put forward ideas that influenced the result. But the Electoral College as enacted was a compromise among various ideas over several weeks. <BR/><BR/>Those delegates apparently convinced themselves that they wouldn’t fall into parties and factions. But they did, and in fact the American election system encourages voters and politicians to coalesce into two major parties. That made the original design of the Electoral College unworkable.J. L. Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15405157000473731801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28102666.post-88879453377120064322008-10-04T16:51:00.000-05:002008-10-04T16:51:00.000-05:00Who's idea was the Electoral College? Was it disc...Who's idea was the Electoral College? Was it discussed much? I can see the need to balance population against states rights of course, but with many ideas there were usually counter proposals and debate too. Any pointers?Vernhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17749548749451100874noreply@blogger.com