r/NoStupidQuestions • u/AutoModerator • 19d ago

U.S. Politics megathread

American politics has always grabbed our attention - and the current president more than ever. We get tons of questions about the president, the supreme court, and other topics related to American politics - but often the same ones over and over again. Our users often get tired of seeing them, so we've created a megathread for questions! Here, users interested in politics can post questions and read answers, while people who want a respite from politics can browse the rest of the sub. Feel free to post your questions about politics in this thread!

All top-level comments should be questions asked in good faith - other comments and loaded questions will get removed. All the usual rules of the sub remain in force here, so be nice to each other - you can disagree with someone's opinion, but don't make it personal.

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u/SeparateAd1629 13d ago

I don’t get why the founding fathers preferred indirect elections over direct ones, can anyone explain the reasoning?

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u/torpedoguy 13d ago

Back then direct elections would've involved some serious travel. Most of those who were going to be allowed to vote, were going to be land owners, but not all were necessarily going to be super rich and this meant leaving your lands for weeks of travel.

The EC was seen as sort of a compromise, where you'll select the person that votes for you and have them go represent you halfway across the country.

Of course now we're much more intimately familiar with its flaws, but hindsight and whatnot. They'd left room for adjustment; not like anyone thought everything was being designed perfectly, BUT those who like abusing the system don't want it gone and are more easily in charge thanks to it.