The Rules of the Game

Americans have been using essentially the same rules to elect presidents since the beginning of the Republic. In the general election, each voter chooses one candidate; each state (with two current exceptions) awards all its Electoral College votes to the candidate chosen by the largest number of voters (not necessarily a majority) in that state; and the president-elect is the candidate with a majority of Electoral College votes. . . . After 224 years, perhaps it is time to change the rules of the game.

Read more as Eric Maskin, Professor in the School of Social Science from 2000–2011 and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences in 2007, and Amartya Sen, Institute Trustee (1987–1994) and Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences in 1998, describe the deeply flawed rules of the American electoral system in relation to this year's election and how we might better reflect the political preferences of the country at large.