How Germany’s electoral college was set up to prevent another Hitler

When the U.S. electoral college meets Monday, many of its members will have experienced weeks of rising pressure to select someone other than Donald Trump as president. The role of the electors has been the focus of controversies for years, with some arguing that they are unnecessary and that the difference between the public vote and the composition of the electoral college is too big.

Other countries have had similar discussions. The most prominent example might be Germany, where an electoral college was introduced after World War II. The declared aim behind that decision: to prevent the rise of another Adolf Hitler.

Almost 70 percent of Germans would prefer to elect the president directly, according to surveys. The system's critics argue that the indirect election of the German president is undemocratic, but supporters point to the procedure's origins.