As part of Poly’s Heinz Ethics Series, Erwin Chemerinsky offered a fascinating and necessary perspective as he presented qualitative and quantitative claims from his most recent book, No Democracy Lasts Forever: How the Constitution Threatens the United States. In his time at Poly, Chemerinsky spoke on the flaws of our Constitution and legal system and then outlined solutions that would defend both the original values and current principles of our system of government.

I was most intrigued by his proposition to elect presidents by popular vote and fully eliminate the Electoral College. Chemerinsky pointed out that since the year 2000, twice the loser of the popular vote has become our president. While this has been a long-dependable system, I learned that the number of votes assigned to each state is not tied closely enough to its population; for example, California has one electoral vote for every 721,578 residents, while Wyoming has one for every 194,686 residents. I can now confidently agree that the Electoral College is outdated, and its lack of accurate representation of the American people deems it something to be reconsidered.

Chemerinsky also touched on other failures of American representation, including those within the Supreme Court. The weight of decisions that are fundamental to the American people lies on the shoulders of our nine justices, many of whom hold their positions due to lifetime tenure and no longer reflect contemporary social values and even oppose the best interests of their own people.

No democracy can uphold forever, but if we implement systemic governmental changes, can we make ours last?