Consider this stirring account of democratic progress:
__At the Constitutional Convention of 1787, a proposal to elect the president of the United States by national popular vote鈥攖hough initially favored by James Madison, James Wilson, and Gouverneur Morris鈥攆ell flat with most of the delegates. Instead, they adopted a complex, hasty, last-minute compromise no one was enthusiastic about: presidential election by state electors. This system came to be called the Electoral College.
Ever since, the arc of history has been bending toward the national popular vote but never quite getting there. Time and again, far-sighted statesmen have advanced sensible reforms to fix the Electoral College and make our presidential elections more democratic. Time and again, their reforms have attracted wide support but have been thwarted by venal or partisan calculations, misunderstandings, or sheer inertia.
Yet, the expansion of American democracy has always proceeded in fits and starts: the abolition of slavery, the enfranchisement of African Americans and women, the popularly elected Senate, the 鈥渙ne man, one vote鈥� rule for legislative apportionment. Today, replacing the Electoral College with a national popular vote (NPV) is our rendezvous with history, the momentous next step for bringing our political institutions into line with our democratic ideals.__
That is the narrative of two recent books on electing the president. Why Do We Still Have the Electoral College? by Alexander Keyssar, professor of history and social policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, is the most thorough study of our Electoral College debates ever written. Let the People Pick the President by Jesse Wegman, a member of the New York Times editorial board, is more selective and journalistic. Both books are serious histories, replete with drama and instruction. They defy today鈥檚 progressive conceit that we can 鈥渃ancel鈥� history and fashion the world all on our own. But they make the converse mistake of trying to settle a living debate with a romantic plotline.
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