THE AMERICAN FOUNDERS envisioned the selection of the president as a fairly simple process and created a specific procedure for that purpose. Over time, however, the trials and errors of practical experience revealed flaws in the system, problems they had to correct by changing the Constitution. The original selection process also had an important philosophical flaw. Instead of allowing the general citizenry to select the president directly, through the ballot box, the founders designated a chosen few to pick the country's highest leader. Therefore, the process was largely undemocratic. The Congress eventually corrected this flaw, although some questions still remain about the fairness of the solution.

Over the course of time, the presidential selection process changed in other ways that the founders did not foresee. It became increasingly longer and more complex and today consists of a host of customs, traditions, and...