Question

The creation of the Electoral College and the indirect election of senators demonstrates that the framers of the Constitution were concerned with the

• A. effects of a strong central government.
• B. problems created by weak state governments.
• C. possibility of corruption in the election process.
• D. excesses of democracy.
• E. need to protect the rights of the majority.

Answer 1

The correct option is D excesses of democracy.

A fear of mobocracy, or excesses in democracy, led the framers of the Constitution to create an indirect process of electing the president through the establishment of the Electoral College. In addition, while the House of Representatives was directly elected by the people, the Senate was to be elected by the state legislatures, placing the Senate out of the direct hands of the people. The 17th Amendment to the Constitution, adopted in 1913, provided for the direct election of U.S. senators by the people. Choices (A), (B), and (C) were not concerns that led to the establishment of the Electoral College or the indirect election of senators. The framers were interested in protecting the rights of the minority, in this case, the aristocrats, from the excesses of democracy and were less interested in protecting the rights of the majority (E).