POL110 Final

Electoral College

• Electoral College: also, not part of some well thought out plan by the Founders

• Distrustful of citizens

* Shaped by existing power structures

• Placated powerful minorities who threatened to derail convention.

* Southern states: strongly opposed electing president by popular vote

• Slavery: played key role in the adoption of electoral college

• How?

A Sacred Document?

• Many Americans treat U.S. Constitution as if it were a sacred document

• Counter majoritarian institutions: not part of some well thought out plan by the Founders

• Hamilton and Madison: opposed many of them

• Constitution: shaped by existing power structures

• Had to placate powerful minorities who threatened to derail convention

Historical Arguments

• Some argue that if we did not have anti-majoritarian institutions such as U.S. Senate or Electoral College: chaos would spread.

• Heard this argument before

• Other countries have had similar undemocratic upper chambers in the past

• Argued that if such chambers were abolished or made more representative: chaos would spread

• Tyranny of the majority

• Did not happen

Filibuster

• Original Senate had no filibuster

• 2/3 vote to end debate

• Moved down to 3/5

• No longer have the talking filibuster

• What do Levitsky and Ziblatt think about the filibuster

• Do you agree with them or disagree with them and why?

• What do you think about the filibuster?

• What would Madison or Hamilton think?

Tyranny of the Minority

• U.S. Founders: feared tyranny of the majority

• Majorities can undermine democracy

• What if we have the opposite problem

• Electoral majorities cannot win or govern

• Whereas minorities can win and thereby govern

• Tyranny of the minority makes us vulnerable to democratic backsliding

The Virginia Versus New Jersey Plan

• Key divide at convention: representation in Congress

• Virginia Plan (drafted by James Madison) number of seats each state received based on states population

• Greater a states population: more seats in Congress

• New Jersey Plan: (drafted by William Paterson) unicameral legislature

• Where each state gets same number of seats regardless of population

• Nearly derailed the convention

Final Exam: essay question

* Levitsky and Ziblatt argue that the greatest threat to U.S. democracy is not "tyranny of the majority," but rather "tyranny of the minority." With that said, why are Levitsky and Ziblatt are so fearful of minority rule in the United States? In answering this question, list some key counter-majoritarian institutions they believe are undermining democratic rule. Lastly, how do Levitsky and Ziblatt respond to individuals who argue that counter-majoritarian institutions protect minority rights? Do they agree or disagree with such arguments?