Twenty-Eighth Amendment? Beyond Abolishing the Electoral College
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Twenty-Eighth Amendment? Beyond Abolishing the Electoral College
By: Paul Schumaker
The Electoral College was adopted by the framers of our Constitution as a method of ensuring that our presidents would be well-qualified statesmen.
But this goal has been thwarted by changes in our "unwritten constitution," resulting in a deeply flawed electoral process that is far removed from Constitutional provisions.
Reformers frequently seek to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with a process that gives the presidency to the candidate winning the most popular votes, but that alternative provides poor inoculation from charismatic charlatans.
Paul Schumaker, a retired professor of political science, employs the techniques of memoir to convey the evolution of his thinking about this issue, to warn us against adopting such pretenders as the "Interstate Compact," and to prescribe a national process that weds concerns for more acceptable candidates with our common democratic values.
Covering the past, the present, and the future, this book concisely informs the public about a current issue of enduring importance for American politics.
Paperback; 280 pages
ISBN: 978-1642378733
About the Author
Born and raised in Joe McCarthy's hometown, Paul Schumaker escaped the stifling homogeneity of Appleton, Wisconsin, to learn about social and moral diversity, justice, and democracy.
He earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and became a professor at the University of Kansas for 45 years.
His books include Critical Pluralism, Great Ideas/Grand Schemes, and From Ideologies to Public Philosophies).
Studying and assessing how Americans choose presidents became a hobby after the Bush-Gore election.
While retired he wrote The Twenty-Eighth Amendment, in which he advocates an alternative to both the existing Electoral College system and the popular-plurality alternative advocated by most reformers.
He enjoys visiting his sons and their families in California, playing Scrabble, playing tennis and riding his bike with some of his high school buddies in the north woods of Wisconsin.
By: Paul Schumaker
The Electoral College was adopted by the framers of our Constitution as a method of ensuring that our presidents would be well-qualified statesmen.
But this goal has been thwarted by changes in our "unwritten constitution," resulting in a deeply flawed electoral process that is far removed from Constitutional provisions.
Reformers frequently seek to abolish the Electoral College and replace it with a process that gives the presidency to the candidate winning the most popular votes, but that alternative provides poor inoculation from charismatic charlatans.
Paul Schumaker, a retired professor of political science, employs the techniques of memoir to convey the evolution of his thinking about this issue, to warn us against adopting such pretenders as the "Interstate Compact," and to prescribe a national process that weds concerns for more acceptable candidates with our common democratic values.
Covering the past, the present, and the future, this book concisely informs the public about a current issue of enduring importance for American politics.
Paperback; 280 pages
ISBN: 978-1642378733
About the Author
Born and raised in Joe McCarthy's hometown, Paul Schumaker escaped the stifling homogeneity of Appleton, Wisconsin, to learn about social and moral diversity, justice, and democracy.
He earned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, and became a professor at the University of Kansas for 45 years.
His books include Critical Pluralism, Great Ideas/Grand Schemes, and From Ideologies to Public Philosophies).
Studying and assessing how Americans choose presidents became a hobby after the Bush-Gore election.
While retired he wrote The Twenty-Eighth Amendment, in which he advocates an alternative to both the existing Electoral College system and the popular-plurality alternative advocated by most reformers.
He enjoys visiting his sons and their families in California, playing Scrabble, playing tennis and riding his bike with some of his high school buddies in the north woods of Wisconsin.