Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College
Written by Jesse Wegman
Narrated by Jesse Wegman
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
"People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one, at least in recent years, has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman does in 'Let the People Pick the President.'" -- The New York Times Book Review
This program is read by the author
The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose?
Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question—and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike—find that their votes didn't matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president.
Now, as political passions reach a boiling point at the dawn of the 2020 race, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed—now. Isn't it time to let the people pick the president?
In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
“Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with…" —Publishers Weekly
Jesse Wegman
JESSE WEGMAN is a member of The New York Times editorial board, where he has written about the Supreme Court and legal affairs since 2013. He previously worked as a reporter, editor and producer at outlets including National Public Radio, The New York Observer, Reuters, The Daily Beast and Newsweek. He graduated from New York University School of Law in 2005.
Related to Let the People Pick the President
Related audiobooks
The Fight to Vote Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Why We're Polarized Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Corrosion of Conservatism: Why I Left the Right Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in An Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Can It Happen Here?: Authoritarianism in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Thank You For Voting: The Maddening, Enlightening, Inspiring Truth About Voting in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote—and How to Get It Back Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How Did We Get Here?: From Theodore Roosevelt to Donald Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Grounded: A Senator’s Lessons on Winning Back Rural America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What You Need to Know About Voting--and Why Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5It's Time to Fight Dirty: How Democrats Can Build a Lasting Majority in American Politics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5They Want to Kill Americans: The Militias, Terrorists, and Deranged Ideology of the Trump Insurgency Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Election Meltdown: Dirty Tricks, Distrust, and the Threat to American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of “The Big Lie” Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2020 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dollars for Life: The Anti-Abortion Movement and the Fall of the Republican Establishment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsConfirmation Bias: Inside Washington's War Over the Supreme Court, from Scalia's Death to Justice Kavanaugh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are Indivisible: A Blueprint for Democracy After Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unchecked: The Untold Story Behind Congress’s Botched Impeachments of Donald Trump Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Age of Grievance Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeautiful Country Burn Again: Democracy, Rebellion, and Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Next Republic: The Rise of a New Radical Majority Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Firsts: The Inside Story of the Women Reshaping Congress Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Politics For You
The Prince Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Son of Hamas: A Gripping Account of Terror, Betrayal, Political Intrigue, and Unthinkable Choices Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 48 Laws of Power Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Behold a Pale Horse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You Can't Joke About That: Why Everything Is Funny, Nothing Is Sacred, and We’re All in This Together Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Vision of the Anointed: Self-congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5While Time Remains: A North Korean Girl's Search for Freedom in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Elon Musk Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The MAGA Diaries: My Surreal Adventures Inside the Right-Wing (And How I Got Out) Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Enough Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Let the People Pick the President
14 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Thorough, unbiased look at the history of the electoral college and comprehensive answers dispelling the many myths we hear all too often. Quick and easy read. Well worth it!