Jesse Wegman

Every four years when our Presidential election rolls around in the U.S., I get crabby about the electoral college. I am a strong believer that we should shift to a national popular vote with ranked choice voting to ensure a candidate wins with a majority rather than a plurality.

This book is a series of essays/arguments that includes historical information about the creation of the electoral college, analysis of how it has succeeded and failed in elections of the history of our country, and show more addresses myths and fallacies about who the electoral college benefits.

It's laid out well and easy to understand. Reads kind of like a series of newspaper articles - not surprising considering the author is a journalist. If you are curious about the history of the electoral college and the arguments for a national popular vote, give this a read. Or a listen - I listened to it as an audiobook and it worked very well that way. show less

nonfiction; electoral college reform
the absurdity of our electoral college is by now somewhat familiar to everyone, but Wegman gives the topic a complete review and outlines a way to fix it without having to amend the constitution. Further, he systematically dismantles arguments against reform (from both parties), demonstrating that the current system benefits and disadvantages BOTH parties and that it is in everyone's interests (except for maybe voters in the odd few swing states) to make show more every vote count equally--i.e., not just the ones in the swing states. Lots more to it than that, but I can't sum it all up as eloquently as he.

Even if you don't want to read the whole thing, I recommend picking out a couple chapters--whether you're interested in the history of how the system was designed (slaveholders vs nonslaveholders had to reach a compromise somehow), or how the system has panned out over time (losses for both Reps and Dems), or how to conduct an argument to try to change someone's mind. I listened to the whole book, but didn't fully absorb all of it, and I still learned a whole LOT.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like this will happen soon enough for the Fall election, with all of the other important issues currently taking center stage, but you never know. The least we can do is educate ourselves. show less

An excellent overview of the history and mechanics of the electoral college that highlights the flaws and aberrations of this bizarre system. Throughout, the author makes cogent arguments for a national popular vote in a way that's conversational yet compelling.

Jesse Wegman takes a journalistic look at the US election process, showing why the Electoral College is outdated and ineffective. In particular, he takes issue with the “winner take all” method of awarding electoral votes to the winner of a state’s popular vote, which currently occurs in all states except two. This method tends to skew the results and occasionally the winner of the national popular vote does not win in the Electoral College. This has happened five times in our show more nation’s history, most recently in 2016.

Wegman takes the arguments often put forth in support of the electoral college and takes them apart one by one. He notes the ways the world has changed since it was originally conceived and, even then, it was controversial. In addition to the analysis of the Electoral College, he offers a history of the US Constitution, voting rights, and related Supreme Court decisions. The author clearly and cogently states his rationale. It offers food for thought. It will appeal to those interested in US history and politics. show less