The Electoral College: abolish and replace with a national popular vote or preserve - Essay Example

Several factors contributed to the creation of electoral colleges. One of the reasons is that at the time the founding fathers were in the process of creating the United States, the population was very low and individuals were scattered all over the country. The means of transport were very poor and this meant that the communication among the different states was nearly impossible. This necessitated the creation of colleges where only a fraction of the population would participate in the process.

Another reason was that the newly formed states were suspicious of each other. There were frosty relations between the different states in the country at that time. Hence, there was reluctance from the member states to participate in an electoral process that was organized by the central government. In order to reach a compromise the concept of electoral colleges was settled on. Over the years, the concept of the use of electoral colleges has under gone considerable changes to become the sort of institutions present today (Bugh, 35).

Proponents of the electoral colleges base their arguments on different reasons. One of them is that of tradition. It is argued that the electoral process in the U.S has always been one based on the concept of electoral colleges and to change it now would result in numerous challenges. These challenges would range from the costs involved in conduction of nationwide elections to the challenge of educating the public on the new electoral process. There would be the logistical problem of determining if the elections would be carried out in a single day or in several days in order to cater for the vast population of over 300 million plus people.

Another argument for the continued use of colleges is that its abolition would lead to the emergence of a mob mentality in U.S politics. It is feared that if the elections were decide by popular vote, the majority would carry the day leaving the minorities who do not have the numbers