In this American Greatness article, Anthony Esolen defends the Electoral College as a constitutional structure that protects the American union by preserving the role of states rather than reducing presidential elections to raw national vote totals.
- Esolen argues that the Electoral College does not undermine democracy but channels it through the states, preventing a few heavily populated regions from dominating the rest of the country.
- He notes that presidents have won without the national popular vote in 1888, 2000, and 2016, but contends that this objection ignores how different electoral systems often produce winners without majority support.
- The article compares the U.S. system with parliamentary systems such as the United Kingdom, where a party can win overwhelming legislative power with far less than a majority of the popular vote.
- Esolen challenges the claim that small states have unfair influence, arguing that large states already possess enormous practical power through electoral pathways and congressional representation.
- He uses California and Wyoming as examples, saying California’s electoral advantage remains overwhelming even with the Electoral College’s modest boost to smaller states.
- The article emphasizes that elections are not simply mathematical exercises but political expressions of a federal union made up of distinct states.
- Esolen argues that states are not mere administrative districts but separate experiments in self-government, each with legitimate interests that deserve protection.
- He says the Senate and Electoral College both reflect the Founders’ effort to balance population-based power with the equal standing of states.
- The broader warning is against political homogenization, where the country is flattened into one national mass governed by the preferences of its largest blocs.
- Esolen concludes that protecting smaller states from being swallowed by raw numbers ultimately benefits the whole country, including large states.
Read the full story: https://amgreatness.com/2026/05/19/the-electoral-college-and-the-american-union/
