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Constitutional history makes clear that the founders had three main purposes in designing the Electoral College.
The first was to stop a demagogue from becoming
president. At the Constitutional Convention, arguing in support of the
Electoral College, Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts said he was “against a
popular election” for president because the people would be “misled by a
few designing men.” In Federalist No. 68,
Alexander Hamilton wrote that the electors would prevent those with
“Talents for low intrigue, and the little arts of popularity” from
becoming president. They would also stop anyone who would “convulse the
community with any extraordinary or violent movements.”
Stopping foreign interference in elections was a primary goal of the founders
The second goal was to stop foreign interference in
election. In the founding period, the framers were extremely concerned
about infiltration by rivals including Great Britain. In Federalist No.
68, Hamilton wrote that one major purpose of the Electoral College was
to stop the “desire in foreign powers to gain an improper ascendant in
our councils.” He said that the college would “Guard against all danger
of this sort … with the most provident and judicious attention” from the
electors.
The third goal was to prevent poor administration of
government. This is a less well-known purpose of the Electoral College,
but it is again expressly discussed in Federalist No. 68. Hamilton wrote
that “the true test of a good government is its aptitude and tendency
to produce a good administration,” and for that reason, he said, the
electors should be “able to estimate the share which the executive in
every government must necessarily have in its good or ill
administration.”
