Which is why we're the "United States" of America, not just America.

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

Think of them as entities that were once separate republics, basically independent nations.

And we could be living in a very different world if the Civil War had ended differently.

States rights used to be one of the hallmarks of the Republican Party, too. They wanted more state autonomy, less federal (i.e. "big") government.

there is also the fact that our founders didn't trust the unwashed masses to vote for president and that is why we have electors who actually vote for President.

Yes, this. In the words of the founding fathers, democracy is a beautiful thing, except for that part about letting any old yokel vote. Note too that the individual states chose union, and that was a negotiated process. The EC was a means to assure the smaller states that their interests wouldn't be wholly subsumed. (This is also why Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution. They were fearful of the power of their larger neighbour, Pennsylvania, so they were especially motivated to sign on to the protections the Constitution offered.)

In fact, originally I don't think the EC was even a compromise between democracy and state-ocracy. Note that in the early days of the US, many states didn't even have a vote to choose the electors. The state government simply appointed them. There was nothing in the Constitution to stop the people being taken out of the equation completely (except for voting for their own state government).

One other interesting point. As I understand it, from the writings of the time, at least some of the Founding Fathers expected that, more often than not, the Electoral College wouldn't choose the President either. The Constitution has rules for what happens if no candidate gets a majority of the EC vote. (Not a plurality, a majority.) It gets thrown to Congress. (The House chooses the President - only one vote per state - and the Senate chooses the Veep.) Those FFs opposed to the party system envisaged that with numerous factions in play, only a trule exceptional candidate would win majority support. The rest of the time, the House would make the choice. (One last wrinkle: initially, each elector could cast two votes.)

Constitutionally, then, the system worked thus: the states, through whichever means they thought best, selected a representation of worthy, upstanding citizens. These citizens compiled a shortlist of best qualified candidates to assume the Presidency. The House perused this shortlist and selected their favoured candidate.

And then, of course, in 1800 the system did exactly this. The House had the choice between Jefferson and Burr (who was supposed to be Jefferson's running mate). It took 36 votes for the House to reach a conclusion and elect Jefferson.

After that, letting any old yokel vote looked better by comparison. Once the Democratic-Republican unity party broke down, the Democrats under Jackson championed the voice of the people, and the EC system had to be repurposed to try to give voice to a popular vote. And thus the US has the hybrid system it holds today.

Not wanting to interrupt the discussion, but has anyone flown out of Dulles lately? I never have, and my sister has told me about how complicated the place is, and I'm having pre-flight anxiety. Anything I should know about before I get there?

the Democrats under Jackson championed the voice of the people, and the EC system had to be repurposed to try to give voice to a popular vote

Jackson lost the election of 1824. He had the most electoral votes, but not a majority. When the election was thrown to Congress, they gave the Presidency to second place finisher John Quincy Adams instead.

billy, you know more about the workings of the American government than many born-in-this-country Americans do. Is it because of your fascination with odd lifeforms?

billy, you know more about the workings of the American government than many born-in-this-country Americans do. Is it because of your fascination with odd lifeforms?

Hee. There is an evolutionary process to admire here, it's true.

One thing to note is that this country is not a democracy; it's a republic. The founders thought of democracy as mob rule. That's why they established a system in which people like them were elected to represent the common people. Henry Adams and his class were appalled by the election of Jackson.

To be fair, Jackson did turn out to be pretty appalling.

Don't forget the role of slavery. The electroral college was also a protection for slavery.