Karina Rodriguez
Staff Writer
Four faculty members from the history and political science department discussed “The Race to 270: Reflections on the 2024 Election” on Wednesday in the Quay Davis Executive Board Room.
An audience of roughly 55 University of La Verne community members attended.
Professor of History Kenneth Marcus began the discussion by talking about the way our political system, with three equal branches of government, is structured.
Marcus explained that the founders created this unusual system with two senators from each state, and the representatives in the House reflecting the state’s population size.
State legislators, he explained, appoint electors for the Electoral College.
The founding fathers were not in favor of the Electoral College, he said.
“Nobody was really in favor of this option, but they thought this might produce the least corruption,” Marcus said.
Jason Neidleman, professor of political science, followed by highlighting the undemocratic aspects of U.S. elections, and shed some light on our two-party system.
“Democratic and Republican partisanship has sorted based on urban versus rural,” Neidleman said. “So that makes this problem of the small states having disproportionate influence.”
Neidleman also spoke about how money plays an undemocratic role in a democratic election.
“Five years ago, someone told me that they called the (Democratic National Committee) and said they were interested in running for Congress, and they were asked ‘Do you have $150,000?’” Neidleman said.
“So you either have to have that or be able to borrow it from someone,” Neidleman continued. “And of course, that limits how democratic our elections are, because it limits who runs for office.”
Allyson Brantley, professor of history, followed, focusing on the Latino vote, and its importance since the 1960s.
“Latinx voters are valuable members of the electorate and have always been seeking autonomy, power and a voice in this political history,” Brantley said.
Today Latinos represent 15 percent of the U.S. electorate, or more than 36 million eligible voters. Their views and political leanings are diverse.
Brantley said certain factors affect Latino voters, such as veteran status and economic situations.
“(Some) Latinx voters have also strongly associated with the Republican party, especially if they were veterans coming out of World War II, or if they were immigrants from communist countries like Cuba,” Brantley said.
Gitty Amini, associate professor of political science, discussed different democracies around the world.
Democracies, in general, are under threat, Amini said. And she pointed to France and England, whose democracies, like ours, are currently fragile.
Karina Rodriguez can be reached at karina.rodriguez3@laverne.edu.
Karina Rodriguez is a senior journalism major with a concentration in broadcast journalism, and editor-in-chief of the Campus Times. She has previously served as sports editor, social media editor, arts editor and a staff writer.
