Text 1The Electoral College ensures that all parts of the country are involved in selecting the President of the United States. If the election depended solely on the popular vote, then candidates could limit campaigning to heavily-populated areas or specific regions. Without the electoral college, groups such as Iowa farmers and Ohio factory workers would be ignored in favor of pandering to metropolitan areas with higher population densities, leaving rural areas and small towns marginalized.Text 2The two main political parties can count on winning the electoral votes in certain states, such as California for the Democratic Party and Indiana for the Republican Party, without worrying about the actual popular vote totals. Because of the Electoral College, residential candidates only need to pay attention to a limited number of states that can swing one way or the other. Gautam Mukunda, political scientist at Harvard University , explained that states are given electors based on its representation in the House and Senate, so small states get extra votes. Mukunda stated, “The fact that in presidential elections people in Wyoming have [nearly four] times the power of people in California is antithetical at the most basic level to what we say we stand for as a democracy.”5Mark for ReviewMCQABCBased on the Texts, how would Gautam Mukunda (text 2) respond to the underlined claim made in text 1?ABy disagreeing with the assumption made by authors in text 1 that the electoral college in fact is vital to smooth functioning of the US political system. BBy challenging the notion that electoral colleges are necessary to ensure free and fair elections and representation of all peoples in the country.CBy pointing out that the current system of election is antithetical to USA’s democratic origins and its spirit.DBy arguing that the current system of election has at least one undemocratic feature that allows some states to have more influence on electoral results than others.

Which statement most accurately describes one advantage of the Electoral College system?A.It requires that a candidate win the popular vote to win the election.B.It guarantees that presidential candidates will visit and campaign in every state.C.It requires electors to represent the will of the people.D.It ensures that small states have a voice in choosing the president.

Read this passage:Candidate A receives 48 percent of the popular vote in a state during a presidential election, while Candidate B receives 41 percent and Candidate C receives 11 percent.For most states, what outcome would the election have?A.Each of the candidates would receive some of the electoral votes.B.Candidate A and Candidate B would split the state's electoral votes.C.The state would have to cast new ballots until one candidate wins a majority.D.Candidate A would receive all of the state's electoral votes.

Critics of the winner-take-all aspect of the electoral college are most likely to make which of the following arguments?ResponsesThe winner-take-all system of the electoral college undermines the rights of states.The winner-take-all system of the electoral college undermines the rights of states.A state's presidential election results rarely mirror a state's congressional election results.A state's presidential election results rarely mirror a state's congressional election results.The winner-take-all system of the electoral college drives presidential candidates to focus on winning states that are considered to be part of their core supporters.The winner-take-all system of the electoral college drives presidential candidates to focus on winning states that are considered to be part of their core supporters.The winner-take-all system of the electoral college encourages presidential candidates to focus their time and effort disproportionately on battleground states with larger populations.

How does the popular vote differ from the electoral vote during a presidential election?A.The popular vote measures the total number of voters supporting a candidate.B.The popular vote is determined by the Electoral College rather than voters.C.The popular vote applies during the general election rather than the primaries.D.The popular vote represents the total number of states a candidate won.

Duverger’s law explainsGroup of answer choiceswhy the Electoral College is so frequently unable to choose the Presidentwhy office seekers will frequently pursue office as independents or third-party nomineeswhy plurality elections always lead to party systems with more than two major competitorswhy in any election in which a single winner is chosen by plurality voting, there is a strong tendency for serious competitors to be reduced to two