Introduction
The American electoral college may be criticized for geographic underrepresentation and use of the winner-takes-all concept, but still necessary for checks and balances, promotion of federalism, and balancing the opinions of the populace and the congress. This analysis covers the source, Why we need the electoral college, a book by Tara Ross in 2019. I found this source in Google Books, but Regnery Gateway initially sponsored and published it in Washington, D.C. I found this book credible because it was written by a reliable author, provides accurate facts to support the primary argument, and helps support arguments for and counterarguments for the research thesis.
Credibility
The source was written by a credible and multiple-published author who has also worked with other research experts. Ross has adequate knowledge of the electoral college and has shown interest in the topic by writing more than one book. She has published a highly dependable work, The Indispensable Electoral College, which proves how the college’s founders save America from mob rule. Ross has also authored political-based books such as Enlightened Democracy, We Elect a President, Under God, We Fought for Freedom, and She Fought Too. In the past three years, Ross has solely and partnered with other authors to publish five books, including Ethnic Media and Multidimensional Identity and Journalism Alongside. The author has proven trustworthy by working for 13 years as a highly-recommendable military lawyer and 20 years as a nurse. Ross is also well-educated with a bachelor of arts, diploma in journalism, master of arts with distinction, and doctor of philosophy. She won a Research Fellow Award at Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies and Teaching Award at Canterbury University, among others. These are among many valid qualifications that prove Ross is a reliable author.
Ross, in her book, used accurate information that makes the source dependable. According to Ross (2019), the electoral college favors the republicans more than the democrats, but the college’s founders intended to maintain the democracy of the country. Edwards III (2019) affirms this information, saying that even if the college was meant to make elections effective and support federalism, it is unfair to lean more toward the republicans than the democrats. Furthermore, the source provides real examples of presidential candidates who have lost popular votes yet won the college vote. Amongst the examples given are Donald Trump in 2016 and George W. Bush in 2000, who lost the popular vote yet won the college vote. These are publicly known historical news, thus proving Ross’s information more factual. Furthermore, the text is not biased and was published within the past five years, hence making it more credible.
Usefulness
The source helps support the research argument of why the electoral college is necessary. The book’s purpose is to show that even though the electoral college is not without fault, Americans still need it. It arrives at the goal by providing both positive and genitive sides of the electoral college and proving that the positive outweighs the negative. The source acts as a defense and proves that college is essential. According to Ross (2019), the electoral college is an old and reliable institution that America has relied on for at least 235 years. This is a positive point to show that although the college has had a few instances where the popular vote lost meaning, it has been reliable for many years. The issue comes in handy to strengthen my research argument, especially in the section on the importance of the electoral college.
Ross provides an Obama direct quote indicating that the college system favors republicans more than democrats. Following the presidential results of candidates who lost the college vote, it is apparent that most candidates who fail the presidency are democrats (Haas et al., 2023). These are two vital points to support counterarguments about the necessity of the college. I will use the points to show that it is not a coincidence that most of the winning candidates in the college are republicans.
Conclusion
The sources’ credibility is based on the author, factual information, and usability. The book’s author is reliable and trustworthy, having published several other books. She also uses accurate details to support her primary argument of the book. Indeed, the writer proves to have adequate knowledge about the college system. The source helps support the argument for the electoral college and critics of the same. It provides accurate proof of favoring republicans and being a dependable institution. Therefore, it will come in handy in supporting my research thesis from all dimensions.
References
Edwards III, G. C. (2019). Why the electoral college is bad for America. Yale University Press.
Haas, C. J., Pielak, I., & Steele, I. (2023). 235 years since the electoral college: A Probabilistic consideration of voting power. Department of Political Science, 1-23. Web.
Ross, T. (2019). Why we need the electoral college. Gateway Editions.
Reflection
Some of the questions I asked myself when evaluating the source’s credibility are, who is Tara Ross and how accurate is the book’s information? I also asked what are some Ross’s achievements that makes her reliable? When examining the usefulness, I asked what is the purpose of the book and how the information help me in building the research argument? I feel that the evaluation practice will help me build strong arguments supporting the thesis. It will also be helpful to develop a counterargument and defenses of the same because it is quite detailed.