Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Many small States joined the Union only reluctantly because they didn't want to become the coattails of more powerful voting blocks. People vote instead of revolting, but mathematically votes mean nothing, which leaves the psychological effect of voting, the tribal aspect, millions of years of evolutionary my-team-versus-your-team rivalry that binds groups together. Democracy for large groups was suspect and still is but people will trust in someone they consider local to put their interests first. That's why they want representatives that can punch over their weight, to try and get their issues and concerns heard in a noisy room. A pure democracy, where a few big cities decide what everyone is going to do, shatter that illusion of even minimal control, that's why people expect their State to be recognized individually in the House and Senate, and why there's an Electoral College for the presidential election.

If there was no Electoral College, presidential candidates would only need to campaign in the big cities, or just California for that matter, and many States would simply be ignored altogether. People vote their best interests, and it's easy to predict that the interests of 8 million people in a big urban center have entirely different interests than the whole populations of 6 or 7 States. States don't even recognize doctors, lawyers, accountants & engineers from other States, let alone a huge block of votes from strangers in NYC. If there wasn't an Electoral College, we would require something that did the same thing to maintain our tribal sensibilities.