Twice recently, The Heritage Foundation hosted events to discuss the National Popular Vote proposal–a plan that would eliminate the effects of the Electoral College while side-stepping the difficult process of constitutional amendment.

I was honored to participate in the first panel, and even more honored that it was hosted by Edwin Meese III, the former Attorney General and Heritage’s Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow. Also on the panel was Heritage Senior Legal Fellow Hans von Spakovsky and Dr. Michael Uhlmann of the Claremont Graduate University. Each of these men has written eloquently on this topic. Von Spakovsky, a national expert on election law and policy, recently authored a Heritage Legal Memo explaining why “NPV would be a disaster.” Uhlmann has written in defense of the Electoral College since the 1970s, including this Claremont Review of Books essay and a contribution to this important book.

While that event is not currently available online, video from the most recent one, featuring Sen. Mitch McConnell, is below and provides several important perspectives of what is at stake in the contention over the process for electing the President of the United States.

There are some great videos out there that help explain the workings of the Electoral College. Here is the School House Rock version from YouTube.

This next one, which I think is even better, is apparently made by Disney and is also available on YouTube.

And the last one, just for fun, is from a company that actually sells Electoral College clothing.

About a month ago, I debated the Electoral College and NPV with two Western Washington University political science professors. The complete series of YouTube videos from the two-hour event in Bellingham, Washington, are below.

The professors had, in my opinion, little regard for the Constitution, Federalism, or history. I’ve written and spoken about the two radically different views of history. The humble can learn from history, or will at least try to learn from it. Those who are caught up with their own modernity or “progressivism” can only dismiss or even scold history.

Key questions about Federalism and the Electoral College are (1) whether this nation is uniquely successful and (2) if so, whether Federalism and the Electoral College are part of the answer or not. I think most Americans would agree with me in answering the first question with the affirmative. And to answer the second question, the institutions that preserve the balance between state and national governments and require broad political geography and broad coalitions are not just helpful, but critical to that success.

In 2008, Professors Gary Gregg (University of Louisville) and Burdett Loomis (Kansas University) debated the Electoral College at the Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies in Grand Rapids, Michigan.