Ms. Kahn’s class was talking about the upcoming election for Student Council President.

“I think the school’s new electoral system makes sense,” Ezra said. “Each club or team gets one vote. That way all the different groups’ voices are heard.”

“That may make sense for you and the five other students in the robotics club,” Theo replied. “But there are 40 students on the football team, and we still only get one vote! How is that fair?”

“I say we should go back to the popular vote, where the majority wins,” Theo continued. “Then, each student would get one vote for the Student Council President.”

“Actually, I think I agree with Ezra,” Luna responded. “Don’t we want a Student Council President who represents all the different groups at our school, not just the biggest ones?”

Ms. Khan cut in, “Some questions can easily be answered with an experiment, like whether paper or plastic bags decompose faster, whereas other questions we can’t really figure out with a practical experiment. In that case, we can do a ‘thought experiment,’ where we think through an issue, come up with predictions, and explain our reasoning.” 

Ms. Kahn assigned Ezra, Luna, and Theo to do a thought experiment to predict how each of the two voting systems would affect the school’s election. Here’s what they came up with: 

How is this example similar to America’s Electoral College?

How is this example different from America’s Electoral College?

Discussion Question:

One argument for the Electoral College is that it was designed to balance the power of states with large populations and states with smaller populations. Do you think this balance is fair? Why or why not?