Another Candidate Loses After Winning

Unless you have been in a cave for the past week, you are aware that Donald Trump won the election for U.S. President this past Tuesday. What you might not be aware of is the fact that Hilary Clinton actually received more votes. This is the fifth time in the nation's history that the person with most votes lost the election. As all of my students know (or at least should know), this anomaly is caused by the Electoral College system we use to select our President. The fine folks over at the National Constitution Center break down the ways this system might be changed, but more importantly, summarize the reasons why this system was adopted in the first place. If you have asked yourself over the past week why those crazy Americans use this system, you can find no better answer than the one provided in this post.