Abstract
Our nation’s constitutionally prescribed governing structure has original problems (the Electoral College) and those that have developed over time (excessively long congressional tenures and, for the presidency, biased reelection timing and unequally productive terms that are equal in length). Repairing the erosion in any one or all three of these components by the Constitution’s 250th anniversary in 2037 constitutes a workable civic engineering timeframe. This article reviews the context for constitutional change; presents the Electoral College’s primary failings; identifies three objectives for its replacement (delivering majority outcomes, providing meaningful roles to states, and broadening the structural focus for such change); and explains which term limit and term length adjustments would provide such breadth while correcting for deficiencies that have emerged in their own roles.
Recommended Citation
Rick LaRue,
Electoral Structure Matters: Fixing the Creaks and Cracks in the Constitution by Its Quarter Millennium,
56
Idaho L. Rev.
(2021).
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.uidaho.edu/idaho-law-review/vol56/iss2/7