Why the Electoral College Is Bad for America

The electoral college is the extraordinarily complex mechanism by which Americans choose their president. Is there any justification for such a system, which may elect the candidate who does not receive the most votes? Today, with two of the last five presidential elections having gone to the popular vote loser and the debacle following the 2020 election, the electoral college’s flaws are more apparent than ever. In this fourth edition of the definitive book on the electoral college, George Edwards employs rigorous analysis and systemic data to show how the system violates core democratic principles and does not provide the benefits its advocates claim. With a new chapter focusing on the 2020 election, Edwards addresses justifications for the electoral college that were popular among Trump supporters following the 2016 and 2020 elections. Edwards concludes by offering a straightforward approach to selecting the president that maximizes political equality.

Author Biography

George C. Edwards III is Distinguished Fellow at the University of Oxford and University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies Emeritus at Texas A & M University. He is a senior figure in the study of the presidency and has written or edited twenty-seven books. He was also editor of Presidential Studies Quarterly and general editor of the Oxford Handbook of American Politics. He was a founder and served as president of the Presidency and Executive Politics Section of the American Political Science Association and has held senior appointments at Oxford, the University of London, Sciences Po-Paris, Peking University, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the US Military Academy at West Point.