Political Science

Senator Harry Reid

            Harry Mason Reid is the senator of Nevada and is a member of the Democratic Party. He is also the majority leader in the senate having been re-elected to the seat in the 111^th Congress (Reid, 2010). His first election as a senator was in 1986 and later re-elected in 1992, 1998 and 2004. In 2010, he announced his bid for the position in the United States elections to the senate.

Nevada has an estimated population of 2.5 million people, which is expected to increase as the years go by (Reid, 2010). The population of Nevada is composed of a diverse cultural orientation with people from different origins. The highest number of people is white, while African American, Asian and Hispanic people make up the rest of the population. One of the major issues affecting the people of Nevada is unemployment with a high population of youth in this region remaining unemployed. This has affected the economy of the state in a negative way with businesses being forced to close. Education is also another issue whereby the people of Nevada complain of dilapidated public schools.

Senator Harry Reid is an ardent supporter of education improvement and has previously voted in favor of education bills. For example, he voted in favor of the bill that advocated for addition of $10.2B to the Department of education and Health and Human services (Reid, 2010). On the issue of defense, Senator Reid voted yes to the legislation that aims at getting American troops out of Iraq. However, this is a change of position as he had voted no to a similar bill in July 2007. Additionally, Senator Reid has been on the forefront in campaigning for an improved health care system for Americans. He voted yes for the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In previous years, he has been in opposition to the plan to privatize social security. On the issue of welfare, Senator Reid voted yes on setting up the national service as a social invention (Reid, 2010).

Electoral College

            The Electoral College is a form of voting whereby a selected number of people referred to as ‘electors’ elect the President and Vice-President of the United States (Burgan, 2007). The Electoral College was added into the constitution by the constitution makers after a decision to do so was reached by the Committee of Eleven (Burgan, 2007). This was a group of lawmakers who were part of the constitution making process and were influential in creating this form of election. The Constitution makers brought forward several ideas that explained how Americans should vote for the President and Vice President. First, there was the proposal of having the Congress choose the president but this was rejected, as it would create divisions among the senators. Secondly, there was a proposal to have State Legislatures choose the president but this was rejected amid fears of loss of democracy (Burgan, 2007). Thirdly, there was the idea of having the people vote for the president through a majority vote but this was rejected, as it would create favoritism and nepotism in the election. The final agreement was on having the people select a group of electors who would in turn vote for the president. The Electoral College has developed over the years with several amendments to the constitution dictating changes in its formation and roles. However, most changes have focused on changing the way electors are chosen leading to the system that is applied today.

The founding fathers intention while creating the Electoral College was to create an avenue for the election of a president who would represent the interests of the people. They also intended to create a feeling of equality among the different states that made up the country. In addition, they intended to have a free and fair election that would not be easily influenced by issues like race, color and financial status (Burgan, 2007). The founding fathers intended to avoid any circumstance that would lead to the election of a president that did not represent the actual needs of the people. They saw the importance of creating a system that would lead to the election of leaders who were qualified according to the needs of the people. I think that the Electoral College is an important part of the American history. However, its implementation in the contemporary world is questionable since the people have a strong desire for electing the president. The Electoral College is no longer applicable and should be abolished, as its impact is negative on the people’s requirements.

 

References:

Burgan, M. (2007). The electoral college. Minneapolis, MN: Compass Point Books.

Reid, H. (2010). University States Senator for Nevada: Harry Reid. Retrieved from http://reid.senate.gov/