Parola Perspective: By PWP Contributor Brooks Parola Formerly of Flint: Question For My Progressive Friends.

 Question for my progressive friends: If large cities and states were dominated by conservatives, would you still be in favor of getting rid of the electoral college?

I’m teaching the constitution now, and I’ve debated both sides of the EC enough to have (I think) a different perspective. And while I’m in favor of doing away with the EC, I really don’t think it’ll ever happen. It requires a constitutional amendment small states will never agree to.

At the constitutional convention, the small states made clear that they’d never agree to a legislature based on proportional representation. Slave states made clear, that anything that discussed even the eventual abolition of slavery in the constitution would cause them to walk out of the convention. Georgia and South Carolina threatened to leave the union altogether. Thus the compromises of a senate as well as the house, and the ridiculous three-fifths compromise.

Madison rightly argued that since Virginia had so many more people than Delaware than they should have more representation in congress, if we're truly going to be a representative democracy. But I think the same argument can be made for small states who’s power (representation) would become negligible with proportional representation in congress, and in a presidential election based on popular vote.

And maybe that’s the way it should be, but I question if we’d feel that way if we lived in a small state.