Explainer: The Problem with the Electoral College ...

Explainer: The Problem with the Electoral College

With Election Day just around the corner, here’s a nicely made explainer on how the electoral college does (and doesn’t) work, for those of us who never really got it. Adapted from the new book Electoral Dysfunction: A Survival Manual for American Voters (The New Press, 2012), it was created by Newsbound, a media company “on a mission to make complex topics understandable.”

Newsbound is worth keeping an eye on as well. This is how they describe what they’re up to:

With an emphasis on backstory and explanation, Newsbound is breaking away from the breaking news cycle. We’re working to engage users who are motivated to learn about complex ongoing stories, but feel overwhelmed by the pace and fluency of the 24-hour news system. Our mission is to expand the audience for substantive news and broaden the conversation around these topics.

In 2011, we produced prototype content focusing on the federal budget process and the debate over the filibuster in the U.S. Senate. Through these early experiments and subsequent user research, we identified several key problems and opportunities in the news ecosystem. We’re now working on a one-of-a-kind product that fills these gaps and we can’t wait to share it with you. You can see some recent examples of our new “stack” format here and here.

Bonus: More Explainers from Newsbound

Image: Detail from The Problem with the Electoral College. Click-through to see the explainer.