2020 Election

[Belsnickel]

(11-06-2020, 02:59 PM)Dill Wrote:
But does the EC make our system less representative of states? That is a question still important to me.

That our federal system is not what we learned in high school, and/or is messy, has changed over time etc., is not in itself reason to weaken state power vis a vis federal. 

And it still seems to me that going directly to a popular vote for the Exec would create a serious imbalance in power between rural and urban STATES.  For me its about THAT and not whether a farmer's individual vote counts more than a city dweller's. 

I am happy that so-called NATIONAL parties must pay attention to small "battleground" states every election. 

As I said in a previous post, when people are asking why an individual farmer's vote in North Dakota should count more than an individual bank teller in New York City, it seems to me they have simply erased the dual system and are regarding the US as a French/Japanese-style unitary government. Unfair that Arturo's vote should count more than a Parisian's. So it's unfair if a North Dakota farmer's vote count's more than the NY bank teller's, but perfectly fair if a load of Caly/NY votes opens a public lands in ND to strip mining.

I don't claim to have this all sorted out. I am still pondering comparisons with other federal systems comprising regional governments with strong, distinct identities, and powers protected from the central gov. (e.g. Germany and Switzerland) and so, in theory, am open to dissuasion.

To answer the main question: no. The reason for this is that states are represented in Congress. If the executive branch moves to strip mine public lands in North Dakota, then the Representatives and Senators from North Dakota have the option to stop those actions by working for a legislative check on those actions. That's how the system is supposed to work.

As it stands, national parties ONLY pay attention to battleground states. They don't spend money or visit places where they don't see any real path to victory. In fact, a national popular vote provides more incentive to visit more states because every vote gained in any state matters. There are Democratic and Republican voters in every state, but some of them get ignored by their party because they are outnumbered.

All-in-all, I think going to a national popular vote would actually help Congress take back some of its power that it has given up to the executive. I think forcing states to act out their interests on Capitol Hill would mean that we could end up with a better functioning Congress.