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Let the People Pick the President
- The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College
- Narrated by: Jesse Wegman
- Length: 7 hrs and 50 mins
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Publisher's Summary
"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 21st-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)
What listeners say about Let the People Pick the President
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 03-22-20
Outstanding Summary of the National Popular Vote
Excellent book about making our politics work better. National popular vote and rank voting is the answer.
2 people found this helpful
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- Matthew O'Neil
- 05-17-22
Great read
If you’re as frustrated with the idea of the electoral college as I am, this book is a must for you. Not only is it a discussion that will make you go “oh, of course!”, it’ll help you realize how many of the problems in modern politics will fix themselves if we change to a one person, one vote system.
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- Kerry Bastow
- 08-29-21
The electoral college is far worse for America than I could have imagined.
This was a thoroughly engaging and convincing read. I came to this book knowing much of the history and policies surrounding the electoral college. Still, I learned some new information and enjoyed the presentation of all of it. What I didn’t truly grasp until I read this is how extensively the college warps American politics. I would go so far as to say that this book shows that the electoral college is at the very root of the hyper-partisanship tearing the US apart.
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- peter505
- 01-13-21
excellent presidential popular vote presentation
Great historical review of how presidential voting was developed and pros for using popular voting
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- Jeffrey Johnson
- 01-10-21
Outstanding! Read no matter your political party!
Incredibly well researched, informative, unbiased. Everyone has their opinions, likely based on myth. Not only does Wegman dispel the myths, he cites resources where more can be found. For all believers in democracy.
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- Emily
- 11-18-20
Really informative
The beginning of the book was sometimes a little slow, but I found the book overall incredibly informative and helpful for understanding the electoral college and the arguments for and against it. I appreciated that the analysis was fact based more than opinion based. I had seen a documentary recently arguing for the electoral college, but found it mostly emotion based and not factual, and this was a refreshing change from that. I'll definitely be recommending it to my friends and family.
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- Liam Krammer
- 11-17-20
INSPIRING!
Great content! Loved the definitive viewpoints on both sides of this issue. Well balanced & easy to understand. Thank you, Mr. Wegman & Reed Hunt for sparking your interest. 🇺🇸
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- Justin D. Sweeney
- 11-14-20
Every American should read this book!
I was skeptical of the EC going in to this read...now I’m 100% convinced it needs to be abolished.
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- L. Bayer
- 09-26-20
Makes the case clear
Excellent presentation of the history and consequences of the electoral college. There is a good argument made as to how both parties and more importantly the American people can benefit from abolishing it.
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- I know where you live
- 08-06-20
Well Done 👏 ✔
I highly recommend this to anyone that is registered to vote in America or wants to learn more about a controversial topic that has played a direct role in how the US has taken shape since James Wilson and James Madison both helped forge the governing document that laid the foundation for how we pick our president.