Compact Risk: Some Downsides to Establishing National Plurality Presidential Elections by Contingent Legislation

This chapter provides an explicitly empirical understanding of electoral system choice. It examines presidential election results in countries that employ first-past-the-post and two-round majority systems. The chapter also examines 233 election results from sixty-two countries in order to see how well the popular will was represented. Electoral design and reform inevitably pose the risk that the resultant arrangements will have unanticipated consequences for the political system. This is especially important if the rationale for reforming the United States system of presidential selection is to better capture the popular will. Critics of the Electoral College frequently emphasize the fact that at various points in history its operation has apparently defied the will of the people. The concern most often expressed with regard to electoral arrangements for presidents is that of legitimacy. Two-round majority systems, by contrast, in virtually all cases produce a president that garners a majority of votes, if only in the second round.