Discuss three different ways in which the elected institutions of the American federal government deviate from the principle of one person/one vote

What will be an ideal response?


Answer: The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the principle of one-person/one-vote in all elections. Yet the U.S. federal government itself does not achieve that ideal. Neither the House of Representatives, nor the Senate, nor the mechanism for electing the president is based strictly on a population count. The Constitution specifies that "each State shall have at least one representative." Several states have so few residents that without this constitutional protection, they would have to share a representative. There are 435 seats in the House of Representatives. Therefore, assigning one representative to each state leaves 385 seats to be allocated among the states by population. Each state is also represented by two senators, no matter how few residents it has. The president, in turn, is elected indirectly in the electoral college, in which each state has as many electors as it has total seats in Congress. The candidate who wins a majority of a state's popular vote wins all of that state's electoral college votes.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

You might also like to view...

One key to reducing sickness and immature death from infectious disease is to

A. develop enhanced DDT. B. isolate AIDS patients. C. improve drinking water quality. D. promote the use of teratogens. E. increase antibiotic use.

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Since biodiversity is usually higher in warmer, milder climates, biodiversity will probably be increased with global warming.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Carcinogens may be difficult to identify because ________

A) there is no way to measure the carcinogenic potential of a substance B) they are the least common toxicants C) there is a long lag time between exposure to the agent and disease D) they are rare in nature E) most are invisible

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences

Which atom of NAD+ carries the positive charge?

A) C B) N C) O D) P

Environmental & Atmospheric Sciences