TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

Garrett Jones:

There’s some evidence that democracy itself makes people happier, but largely I see democracy as a means to an end.  One among those ends is “reducing social conflict.”  

The electoral college, set forth in the U.S. Constitution, is a great tool for reducing social conflict across regions of the United States.  You might think that’s a crazy claim–don’t we see maps of red and blue, and aren’t the red places–the places supporting the Republican–mostly in the South and Midwest?  Indeed, and that pattern across regions is key to explaining how the electoral college defuses some social tension.  

Smart piece.