Understanding the Fundamentals of the U.S. Presidential Election System
This is the first book on the U.S. presidential election system to analyze the basic principles underlying the design of the existing system and those at the heart of competing proposals for improving the system. The book discusses how the use of some ele
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Alexander S. Belenky
Understanding the Fundamentals of the U.S. Presidential Election System
Alexander S. Belenky, Department of Mathematics for Economics and Decision Choice and Analysis Laboratory, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia and Center for Engineering Systems Fundamentals, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA
ISBN 978-3-642-23818-5 ISBN 978-3-642-23819-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-642-23819-2 Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2012937034 © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
To the memory of my parents, Sofia M. Belenkaya and Solomon Y. Belenki
Contents
Preface
ix
Introduction
1
Chapter 1 The constitutional origins of the election system
9
Chapter 2 Should the underlying concepts of the 1787 Great Compromise be honored? Chapter 3
31
Stubborn numbers: how much of a say does the nation have in presidential elections?
45
What if ? Constitutional puzzles, weird outcomes, and possible stalemates in presidential elections
57
“Winner-take-all:” is it as bad as they paint it to be?
83
Chapter 6
Can the National Popular Vote plan succeed?
93
Chapter 7
When every voter gains a
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