[comte7092]

> Remember, the US is a federation of sovereign States and POTUS as Chief Executive of the Federal government represents and is chosen by the States thereof. Each State represents its citizens respectively.

This isn’t even accurate from the perspective of 1789. The articles of confederation created a model akin to what you’ve outlined. The constitution created a quasi blend of popular representation and state level representation in the federal government as a result of several different compromises in order to form a stable national government.

That isn’t how anything effectively works today though. The federal government has undergone numerous reforms both explicitly within the constitution and implicitly without any formal constitutional changes. These include the direct election of senators, income taxes, etc but also the effective binding of presidential electors to the outcome of the popular vote within a state.

Americans today don’t think of themselves as citizens of the state of California, they think of themselves as Americans solely, the former concept being absolutely foreign and strange to them.

Finally, the EC gives very little benefit to small states. The relative impact is consistently overstated. The only place that small state over representation effectively exists is in the senate.

[Dalewyn]

>This isn’t even accurate from the perspective of 1789. The articles of confederation created a model akin to what you’ve outlined. The constitution created a quasi blend of popular representation and state level representation in the federal government as a result of several different compromises in order to form a stable national government.

The Constitution vests all powers with the people, and certain powers are delegated to States at the pleasure of the people. The States in turn delegate certain powers to the Federal government at the pleasure of the States.

While it certainly looks the other way, the hierarchy of political power in America has always been People > States > Federal.

The Constitution also mandates separations of power between the three branches of government, unlike say the Westminster system where the Legislative branch elects the Chief Executive at their pleasure.

>That isn’t how anything effectively works today though. The federal government has undergone numerous reforms both explicitly within the constitution and implicitly without any formal constitutional changes. These include the direct election of senators, income taxes, etc but also the effective binding of presidential electors to the outcome of the popular vote within a state.

Indeed, and States Rights vs. Federal Powers continues to remain a hot topic because both sides want more power.

Incidentally, the legal requirement for electors to follow the election result of their State is decided by each State. Most States have this law, but some do not. The Constitution explicitly gives the States this authority, not the Federal government.

>Americans today don’t think of themselves as citizens of the state of California, they think of themselves as Americans solely, the former concept being absolutely foreign and strange to them.

Is it? There are memes about Californians and Floridians, not to mention stereotypes of New Yorkers and Texans among others and otherwise simple pride in your home state (particularly prevalent among servicemen and veterans).

The National Guards of each State are also rooted in the concept that each State is sovereign and will have a military force legally independent from the Federal military force.

>Finally, the EC gives very little benefit to small states. The relative impact is consistently overstated. The only place that small state over representation effectively exists is in the senate.

The benefit to smaller States in the EC is nearly if not perfectly identical to that in Congress because apportionments are deliberately identical.

[comte7092]

> The States in turn delegate certain powers to the Federal government at the pleasure of the States.

This is blatantly false. The constitution explicitly states that that it draws its power directly from the people “we the people” in the preamble. From the the supremacy clause explicitly states that the constitution is the fundamental law of the land, and that the heiarchy from there is federal law, treaties and then state law. The caveat being that the federal government is delegated limited, enumerated powers by the constitution.

[Dalewyn]

Here's the thing though: The Constitution and amendments thereof are (re)written and ratified by the States at the States' pleasure, which answer to the Peoples of the States respectively. The Federal government cannot modify the Constitution by itself, it's at the mercy of the States and their Peoples.

Thus the pecking order: People > States > Federal.

The People can demand their respective States to modify the Constitution as desired to (re)define the powers delegated from the People to the State and Federal governments.

[comte7092]

The states didn’t write nor did they ratify the constitution (it was done at special conventions separate from the state governments themselves), nor do they write amendments.

I honestly don’t know what to tell you at this point. This is basic constitutional history and legal theory, the federal government draws its authority directly from the people.

[Dalewyn]

Regardless of whether Congress or the States pedantically write new amendments, they must be ratified by 3/4ths of all States in the Union. Ergo, the States ultimately write what goes into the Constitution, and the States answer to their Peoples respectively.

The Constitution itself was also ratified by 9 of 13 States to start.

Congress and thus the Federal government cannot modify the Constitution by themselves, they serve at the pleasure of the States.

[comte7092]

> The benefit to smaller States in the EC is nearly if not perfectly identical to that in Congress because apportionments are deliberately identical.

Due to the equal weight of the two houses of congress, the senate is disproportionately powerful in a way that two electoral votes are not.