the sad truth is that under the old system in England that our forefathers were trying to avoid, one had to pay to be a position of authority (mp, etc). That still occurred on the old days here and still is in effect here today with the candidate with the most money for his campaign in the lead...

>Thanks. I just finished it, and it does explain things well.
>
>I can now understand the protection from the tyranny of the majority comment... it refers specifically to selecting the Presidnet and nothing else.
>
>To an outsider it does seem an odd system, but the article shows that it has/does work as intended. I'd guess that if replaced by something else there would be more trouble/confusion than what is there now. (look at 'campaign finance reform' as an indicator < s >)
>
>
>
>>Look at the link Tom provided. It provides a good overall understanding of the electoral college, why it was started, why it changed, and why it is the way it is today:
>>
>>http://www.fec.gov/pdf/eleccoll.pdf
>>
>>
>>>>>
>>>>>I believe electoral votes is not an accurate way of reflecting our country's choice and it should be changed to the popular vote myself.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>The idea of a representative government is to protect the minority from the tyrany of the majority. If a popular vote was used then California, New York, Texas and Florida would decide every presidential election.
>>>
>>>Jake,
>>>As an outsider I tell you now that I don't fully understand the nuances of your Electoral College system.
>>>But your statement above caused me to ask myself 'how is the Electoral College "representative government" AND how does it protect from the tyranny of the majority?'.
>>>
>>>Let me use todays's Supreme Court decision on sodomy to illustrate...
>>>IF put to the Congress or if put to the Electoral College or even if put to a referendum I think it's a fair bet that all three would "vote" to outlaw the practise. Given the high court's ruling - that the bedroom's antics cannot be legislated - none of those decision methods would succeed in protecting the minority from the tyranny of the majority.
>>>
>>>Can you answer the question above that I asked myself?