The document discusses the Electoral College system for electing the US President. It notes that voters in some states may feel less inclined to vote if their state consistently supports one party. These "battleground" or "swing" states that could vote either way see higher turnout. While swing state turnout is higher, not all voters follow the state majority. The document asks students to write a 500-750 word essay examining the Electoral College system by discussing the process, controversies over its merits and problems, and taking a position on whether it or alternative systems are best.

1. W6 Assignment "Electoral College"
American Government I
Electoral College
As your readings for this week point out, the President is not
elected by a direct vote of the people, but rather by the
Electoral College. Some argue that this discourages voters from
voting if they live in a state where the majority of voters
consistently choose either the Democratic or the Republican
candidates in every election. Evidence of this phenomenon can
be seen in, what we refer to as “battleground” or “swing” states,
such as Florida, Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, and
Pennsylvania—each
of which traditionally report higher voter turnout than other,
more consistently “Red” or “Blue” states.
Still, though voter turnout in battleground or swing states does
tend to be higher, demonstrating that voters in other states may
feel less inclined to cast their ballot, especially if they do not
follow the majority within their state, there are some
compelling reasons why America continues to use the Electoral
College to choose its leaders. In this assignment, we will work
to identify and describe some of those reasons.
For this assignment, write a 500-750 word essay which
examines the Electoral College. Your essay should have three
distinct parts: The facts (looking at the numbers), the
controversy (summarizing the arguments), and your position
(how you weigh in on the merits/problems with the Electoral
College). In your essay, answer each of the following
questions—they
are separated by each part to help guide your response:
Part One: The Facts
How are the number of electoral votes decided for each state?
How many electoral votes are in your home state?
Which Presidential candidate (
Obama
or Romney) won your state’s electoral votes in the 2012

2. election? Which of these candidates won the popular vote in
your state?
Part Two: The Controversy
Explain what you found in your research regarding the “pros
and cons” of the electoral system.
What are the most compelling arguments you found for
continuing to use the Electoral College?
What are the most compelling arguments you found that were in
favor of abolishing the Electoral College?
Part Three: Your Position
Explain what you think. Should the U.S. maintain the current
Electoral College system,move toward a national popular vote
system, or use the “proportional voting” system
forthe
Electoral College used by Maine and Nebraska?
Why do you think the system you chose is the best of the three
systems?
What impact might that have on voters? More engaged? Less
engaged? The same?
Please note
: You will need to do research to complete this assignment,
however; you
may not
use websites such as “ask.com” or “
wiki
answers” to inform your responses. There are plenty of great
resources which are far more credible and will provide a much
more complete understanding of the topics we are exploring. We
suggest the following sites to help you find the information you
will need:
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-
college/map/historic.html
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-
college/faq.html#whyec
http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-
college/about.html

3. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/view_from_chi
cago/2012/11/defending_the_ele ctoral_college.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2012/12/23/voter-
turnout-swing-states/1787693/
As always, be sure to identify any direct quotations you draw
from a source by identifying the source and by placing those
words in quotation marks (no more than 20% of your essay can
be quotations). The source of any ideas or facts you include
should also be identified whether you use the direct words or
not. Additionally, you should include the links to any news
articles or websites you visit by copying and pasting the link at
the end of your assignment.
As with all weekly written assignments, submit your work as an
attached file. Double-space your paper and use 12 point Times
New Roman as your font.
Grading Criteria Assignments
Maximum Points
Meets or exceeds established assignment criteria
40
Demonstrates an understanding of lesson concepts
20
Clearly present well-reasoned ideas and concepts
30
Mechanics, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling that affects
clarity, and citation of sources as needed
10
Total
100