Fourteen chapters, presented by Bugh (political science, Texas A&M U. at Texarkana), contain original research on the prospects and possibilities of reform of the Electoral College system, the system by which the US president is indirectly elected by slates of electors allocated by state. The first three chapters provide a historical treatment of the issue through reviews of recent congressional deliberations over Electoral College reform, the Federalist and Anti-Federalist views of the Electoral College at the time of the US founding, and the general history of the Electoral College from the Constitutional Convention to the present. The next section focuses on barriers to reform, including congressional neglect of the issue, Congress's institutional structure, critiques of the "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact" as anti-democratic, and difficulties revealed by the adoption of the district plan in Maine and Nebraska. The remaining contributions explore specific arguments and proposals for electoral reform related to the campaign behaviors of presidential candidates, the aforementioned "National Popular Vote Interstate Compact," and strategies for pressuring Congress for reform, among other issues. Annotation ©2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)