How Democratic is the U.S. Electoral College?
The U.S. Electoral College is one of the most maligned institutions of American politics. In numerous ways, in terms of both its procedures and its results, the College is arguably undemocratic. Prepare yourself for the 2024 presidential election by attending this talk.
Faculty Member: Sheahan Virgin, assistant professor of political science
Discussion Date: Thursday, May 11 at 5 p.m.
Meet Professor Virgin
Sheahan Virgin is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Grinnell College, having previously served as Visiting Assistant Professor at Saint Mary's College, in Notre Dame, Indiana (AY 2019-20). Virgin received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University (2019); in 2018, the Vanderbilt College of Arts and Science named him its Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant, across all 33 academic departments.
Virgin's research, which focuses on electoral rules—in particular the motivation to reform those rules—has been published in Electoral Studies and is currently R&R’ed at The American Journal of Political Science. His present project examines the effect of American exceptionalism, as an attitude, on individuals' aversion to changing U.S. electoral rules.
Prior to pursuing his Ph.D., Virgin was a research fellow with the electoral reform nonprofit FairVote (2012), located in Washington D.C.; there, he worked on—and advocated for—reforms such as proportional representation, ranked-choice voting, and the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC).
At Grinnell, Virgin teaches courses on American political behavior and public opinion, voting and elections, and democratic decline.
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