How We Elect Our President: The Electoral College and Two-Party System

How do Americans select their presidential candidates? Why have two parties dominated the American political system since its creation and what is the electoral college? President Emeritus Edward Ayers, University of Richmond, Franita Tolson, Dean at the USC Gould School of Law, and Janice Brunner, Group General Counsel and Head of Civic Engagement at Travelers, partnered with the Gilder Lehrman Institute to dive into the history of these enduring features of American elections. 

This discussion is part of our Civic Conversations series in which Citizen Travelers^SM – Travelers’ industry-leading, nonpartisan civic engagement initiative – and the Travelers Institute^® are teaming up to host conversations among leading thinkers in the areas of civic engagement and civic learning. Stay tuned for more discussions featuring thought leaders in this dynamic space and thank you for supporting Citizen Travelers at the Travelers Institute.

Learn more about Citizen Travelers. 

What did we learn? Here are the top takeaways from How We Elect Our President: The Electoral College and Two-Party System.

The Electoral College exists for a variety of reasons. The spirit of compromise, the country's history of slavery and a desire to check the power of pure democracy all contributed to this unique way of choosing a president, the speakers said. The founders meant for the Electoral College to serve as part of the U.S. system of checks and balances, Ayers said. “The idea grew out of the experience the leaders of the Revolution had with Britain,” he said. “They tried to put buffers against power in every way that they could.”

There have been four times in U.S. history when the popular vote winner lost the presidency. In the presidential elections in 1876, 1888, 2000 and 2016, the winner of the popular vote lost the Electoral College vote and did not become president. That's happened twice in recent history because the competition between the two parties is so close now that every vote matters, Ayers said. “The Electoral College suddenly matters in a very powerful way,” he said. “Because what you have is a few states, swing states, where just 10,000 votes can determine the entire outcome of the election.”

The United States is not more polarized than it has ever been – but sometimes it may feel that way. The U.S. has been much more polarized at various times during our history – for example, after the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act passed in 1965, Tolson pointed out. But shifting political maps contribute to the strong sense of polarization today, Ayers said. “We are partisan, but we're not partisan in huge geographic alliances in the way we were,” he said. “Now we're partisan in our own communities: 10 miles away there are people who see things entirely differently in terms of politics.”

There are arguments for and against keeping the Electoral College. The most common argument in favor of the Electoral College is that it protects smaller states and gives them more power, Tolson said. But she cites several arguments against it, including the fact that the popular vote winner can lose the election and the fact that certain votes “count more” based on where a voter lives. “I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense for a modern democracy,” she said. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact may be the most well-known attempt to negate the Electoral College by statute, Tolson said. When enough states sign onto the compact to add up to 270 electoral votes, all those states then agree to award their electoral votes to the candidate who won the U.S. popular vote, she said.

Third parties have impacted American civic life in many ways. There have been many influential third parties throughout history, Ayers said. “There's a constant presence of the third party as a disruption of the two-party system,” he said. Though a third-party candidate has never won a presidential election, third parties still play an important role in pushing the two major parties in different directions on policy, especially at the primary stage, Tolson said. “Democracy is messy, and we need to have hard conversations about policy, where we are as a nation and our values,” she said. “Third parties often are entities that force those conversations.”

Looking beyond the presidential election can show the impact of your vote. Some Americans – especially those who don't live in swing states – may feel their vote for president doesn't matter, Tolson said, but it's wise to remember the importance of other elections, from federal to state to the local level – for example, the local school board or water reclamation board. “There are so many other elections on the ballot that are so relevant to your day-to-day, that really matter,” she said. 

Consider these resources for learning more about the Electoral College. To understand how the Electoral College has shaped elections over time, delve into the University of Richmond election maps. And for those interested in learning more about the history, nuances and present-day implications of the Electoral College, Tolson recommends Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? by Alexander Keyssar. The book is a chronological history, making it easy for the reader to find information from a certain period, she said: “They may want to look at the original story but then jump to the 20th century to understand why we're still here in a way that's relevant to today's politics."