Hamilton, Popular Culture, and the Electoral College

• In Event: Actors, Audiences, Aspirations: What Hamilton the Musical Teaches about Politics

Abstract

The Electoral College, created by Alexander Hamilton and described by him in Federalist 68, is discussed very little in popular culture and is only mentioned by the media around election day. While the Electoral College is not discussed at length in Hamilton, Hamilton’s support for a more elite group of citizens to choose the president is evident throughout the musical and will be discussed throughout this paper. The process of electing presidents has changed a bit since Hamilton drafted Federalist 68 however, and the evolution of the Electoral College will be discussed in this paper as will the evolution of how electors are chosen. What is discussed in popular culture is presidential succession. The West Wing, VEEP, and Madam Secretary all delved into the topic, though mostly focusing on the oddities that come with it. The complexity of the Electoral College is likely keeping it out of popular culture for the most part. Throughout this paper I aim to explain the disparate coverage of the Electoral College vis-à-vis the oddities of presidential succession in popular culture.

Author

• Jay L. Wendland, Daemen College