Federalist No. 68

Constitutional Debates

Throughout its proceedings, the US Constitutional Convention of 1787 debated the method for selecting the president, trying to find a method that would be agreeable to the bodies represented at the convention.

Different plans were proposed, including:

Interests of Slave-holding States

The interests of slave-holding states may have influenced the choice of the Electoral College as the mode of electing the president. James Wilson proposed a direct election by the people, but gained no support and it was decided the president was to be elected by congress. When the entire draft of the constitution was considered, Gouverneur Morris brought the debate back up and decided he too wanted the people to choose the president. James Madison agreed that election of the people at large was the best way to go about electing the president, but he knew that the less populous slave states would not be influential under such a system, and he backed the Electoral College. Another factor here was the so-called Three-Fifths Compromise, which gave added power to the slave-holding states under the Electoral College which they would not have had under any likely form of popular vote.

Hamilton's Understanding of the Electoral College

Federalist No. 68 is the continuation of Alexander Hamilton's analysis of the presidency, in this case being concerned with the method of electing the President. Hamilton argues the advantages of the indirect electoral process described in Article II Section 1 of the Constitution although, in the case of a tied vote in the Electoral College, the House of Representatives was to make the choice.

Hamilton viewed the system as superior to direct popular election. First, he recognized, the "sense of the people should operate in the choice", and would through the election of the electors to the Electoral College. Second, the electors would be:

men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.

Such men would be "most likely to have the information and discernment" to make a good choice, and avoid the election of anyone "not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications".

Corruption of an electoral process could most likely arise from the desire of "foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in our councils". To minimize risk of foreign machinations and inducements, the electoral college would have only a "transient existence" and no elector could be a "senator, representative, or other person holding a place of trust or profit under the United States"; electors would make their choice in a "detached situation", whereas a preexisting body of federal office-holders "might be tampered with beforehand to prostitute their votes".

Also, a successful candidate for the office of president would have to have the distinguished qualities to appeal to electors from many states, not just one or a few states:

Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity, may alone suffice to elevate a man to the first honors in a single State; but it will require other talents, and a different kind of merit, to establish him in the esteem and confidence of the whole Union, or of so considerable a portion of it as would be necessary to make him a successful candidate for the distinguished office of President of the United States

Hamilton expressed confidence that:

It will not be too strong to say, that there will be a constant probability of seeing the station filled by characters pre-eminent for ability and virtue.

Rules on the Electors

Hamilton lists specific rules for the electors, which include:

Selection of the Vice-President

Hamilton notes that the selection of the vice president should follow the same form as that of the president, through selection by the Electoral College, though the Senate is to deal with the voting in the case of an Electoral tie. Hamilton also answers criticism that the Senate should have been given the power to select the vice president instead of the Electoral College. Hamilton notes that there are two major arguments against that point: first, that the vice president's power as President of the Senate would mean that the tiebreaker of the Senate would be beholden to the Senate for his power, and therefore would be unable to make the necessary decisions as a tiebreaker without fear of removal or reprisal; second, that the possibility of the vice president becoming president means that this individual should be elected by the people and the Electoral College, because all of the powers vested in the president could fall into the hands of the vice president.

Works Referenced in Federalist No. 68

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The Anti-Federalist Papers

In Anti-Federalist Papers 72, the anonymous Republicus argues that the issues with the Electoral College deal with the ability of electors, rather than the people, to elect the president. In his eyes, the Electoral College removes the ability of the people to select their leader, and instead delegates that right to a small number of individuals.

Republicus further speculates, "is it not probable, at least possible, that the president who is to be vested with all this demiomnipotence — who is not chosen by the community; and who consequently, as to them, is irresponsible and independent — that he, I say, by a few artful and dependent emissaries in Congress, may not only perpetuate his own personal administration, but also make it hereditary?"^[6] Republicus's fears are of a hypothetically stronger executive whom he compared to Britain's George III.

Cato No. 4

Hamilton also defends against the claims made in Cato No. 4, which claimed that, "The establishment of a vice-president is as unnecessary as it is dangerous [for them to preside in the senate]". Madison gave two reasons for the vice president to be the presiding officer of the senate. First, since he only has one vote, he is equal to his substituents. Also, should the president die, he will know the concerns of the Congress and president, and as such be better prepared than anyone else to take the position.

Modern Positive Reaction

The process for electing the president and vice president, initially introduced in the Constitution of the United States, has been seen by many as a reasonably designed system by which to operate these elections in the United States. Even with its many flaws, such as the election tie of 1800, the Electoral system for electing the president has evoked some modern positive reaction by scholars regarding the system’s history of trial and error; i.e., finding a flaw with the system and then fixing it. The pool of reactions towards the Electoral College system can vary from negative to semi-positive. Hamilton described this system as, "if it not be perfect, it is at least excellent."

Modern Negative Reaction

Just as there are positive reactions towards the election process of the president and vice president of the United states, there are also negative reactions towards the system as it exists. Throughout the history of the United States' presidential election process, its flaws were not perceived by the public or the government, as Hamilton would put it, "if it not be perfect, it is at least excellent". There have been apparent failures of the system, starting with the election of 1800 that resulted in a tie, and subsequent elections in 1824, 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016, which all resulted in the loser of the popular vote winning the majority of the "votes" in the Electoral College.

As the Electoral College process is established in the U.S. Constitution and as subsequently 'refined' in the 12th Amendment to the US Constitution, it can only be further changed or abolished by a subsequent Constitutional amendment.

Summary

Because of the unintended consequences in the presidential election process as originally conceived and created in the Constitution and defended by Hamilton in Federalist 68 — imperfections which led to the controversial election of 1800—the presidential election process was revised in 1804 by the ratification of the 12th amendment, which was a direct response to the 1800 election. This Amendment proposed that “each elector would cast separate and designated votes for President and Vice President.”