Naslov
The Constitution, the Electoral College, and the American Concept of Democracy - A View from Europe

Autori
Podolnjak, Robert

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Poglavlja u knjigama, znanstveni

Knjiga
2012 U.S. Presidential Election

Urednik/ci
Laidler, Pawel ; Turek, Maciej

Izdavač
Jagiellonian University Press

Grad
Krakov

Godina
2014

Raspon stranica
11-30

ISBN
978-83-233-3743-0

Ključne riječi
the electoral college, the United States, constitution, democracy

Sažetak
The article analyses the institution of the Electoral College as the most unique and, at the same time, the most controversial of all American constitutional establishments.Contemporary supporters of the Electoral College defend this system as a historically proven model of extraordinary constitutional flexibility, which protects the federal system and the separation of powers, and guarantees respect for plural character of the American society and minority interests. Quite contrary, the author thinks that in modern times it is normatively impossible to defend the electoral college from the standpoint of preserving the principle of federalism in the American political system, because the presidential election system, as it functions today, is not a federal, “Madisonian” system of concurrent majorities, in the original meaning of those terms.The thesis of the article is that the electoral college system embodies a compound and highly contradictory compromise between the modern democratic principles of popular sovereignty and political equality of each citizen and the federal principle, which emphasizes the crucial role of the states in the process of presidential selection, and this compromise shows the distinctness of the American concept of democracy.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Pravo

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