Let the People Pick the President: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College By: Jesse Wegman

Author: Jesse Wegman
Narrated by: Jesse Wegman

“A deeply researched, informative, and timely argument in favor of abolishing the Electoral College.” (New York Times)

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)

280K	00 - Intro.mp3
220K	01 - Epigraph.mp3
27M	02 - Introduction.mp3
18M	03 - Chapter 1.mp3
19M	04 - Chapter 2.mp3
19M	05 - Chapter 3.mp3
20M	06 - Chapter 4.mp3
31M	07 - Chapter 5.mp3
22M	08 - Chapter 6.mp3
25M	09 - Chapter 7.mp3
20M	10 - Chapter 8.mp3
14M	11 - Chapter 9.mp3
4.5M	12 - Acknowledgements.mp3
408K	13 - Outro.mp3
60K	Let the People Pick the President.jpg
217M	total