Not Your Founding Fathers’ Electoral College: A Virtual Seminar by Dr. Robert Alexander

The selection of the nation’s chief executive was among the most vexing issues for the Framers of the United States Constitution. The process they created has been among the most controversial features of the Constitution with nearly 800 attempts to abolish or amend it. While it has been resilient, the Electoral College of today bears little resemblance to that produced by the Framers.

Dr. Robert Alexander’s seminar titled “Not Your Founding Fathers’ Electoral College” was originally co-sponsored by the Clemson University Department of Political Science and the nonpartisan group called Clemson Votes. South Carolina Humanities and other state humanities councils are developing programming on voting and the electoral process. This program by Dr. Alexander is the first in a 2020-2021 series. South Carolina Humanities is pleased to make this presentation available on-demand to the public. Click here to view the 75-minute seminar. If you view the seminar, please click here to take our 3-question survey about the experience.

Dr. Robert Alexander is a professor of political science and the Founding Director of the Institute for Civics and Public Policy at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. His pioneering work on presidential electors has positioned him as an expert on the Electoral College. His book, Representation and the Electoral College (Oxford University Press, 2019) received stellar reviews and was chosen as an outstanding title by Choice Magazine for 2019. His research on electors was cited during arguments before the Supreme Court in 2020, and he has appeared as an expert on the Electoral College in numerous venues.  He has published four books and numerous articles in academic journals. Dr. Alexander is often called upon by the media for analysis, including USA Today, CNN.com, NPR, the New York Times, BBC, Christian Science Monitor, US News and World Report, and CTV-Canada.

The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c) 3 organization is governed by a volunteer 20-member Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and/or supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually.