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In a related anachronism... > In [Republican CO State Senator Sonnenberg's] view, the Electoral College was created so that “people in rural areas did not get

by human20190310 7y ago

In a related anachronism... > In [Republican CO State Senator Sonnenberg's] view, the Electoral College was created so that “people in rural areas did not get overrun by the masses.” This can't be true since in 1790 (roughly the same time period the EC was created), "the masses" were rural; at that point only about 5% of the population was urban[0]. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urbanization_in_the_United_Sta...

Scramblejams 7y ago
In the US they were rural. The founders and early lawmakers took much inspiration from the histories and travails of other governments around the world.
- hannasanarion 7y ago
  Which were also predominantly rural. There was no country on earth with a majority urban population until well into the 20th century.
  - Scramblejams 7y ago
    Nobody said cities needed a majority to inspire fear of the way they concentrated political power. The founders’ concerns about that are well-documented. A cursory search yielded a decent starting point: https://www.planetizen.com/node/18841 https://www.planetizen.com/node/18841
    - hannasanarion 7y ago
      And nowhere did the founders say that the electoral college was intended to counteract it. Unlike most people today trying to come up with justifications for an obviously broken system, the founders knew that minority rule is worse than majority rule. In every document where the framers discuss "tyranny of the majority", it is clear that their solution is not minority rule, it is CONSENSUS. That is why the most important functions of government: constitutional changes, impeachments, censorship, rule changes, and veto overrides, require supermajorities. You don't overcome tyranny of the majority by letting minorities win. That's just regular tyranny.
lonelappde 7y ago
The electoral college was created to protect Southern slavery. The "masses" he is speaking of were slaves, whose bodies were used to give voting power to their oppressors.

Scramblejams 7y ago

In the US they were rural. The founders and early lawmakers took much inspiration from the histories and travails of other governments around the world.

hannasanarion 7y ago
Which were also predominantly rural. There was no country on earth with a majority urban population until well into the 20th century.
- Scramblejams 7y ago
  Nobody said cities needed a majority to inspire fear of the way they concentrated political power. The founders’ concerns about that are well-documented. A cursory search yielded a decent starting point: https://www.planetizen.com/node/18841 https://www.planetizen.com/node/18841
  - hannasanarion 7y ago
    And nowhere did the founders say that the electoral college was intended to counteract it. Unlike most people today trying to come up with justifications for an obviously broken system, the founders knew that minority rule is worse than majority rule. In every document where the framers discuss "tyranny of the majority", it is clear that their solution is not minority rule, it is CONSENSUS. That is why the most important functions of government: constitutional changes, impeachments, censorship, rule changes, and veto overrides, require supermajorities. You don't overcome tyranny of the majority by letting minorities win. That's just regular tyranny.

lonelappde 7y ago

The electoral college was created to protect Southern slavery. The "masses" he is speaking of were slaves, whose bodies were used to give voting power to their oppressors.