Split decision.

• Author: Amar, Akhil Reed
• Position: Voter selection of the vice president

If George Bush's decision in 1988 to put Dan QuayIe one cardiac arrest away from the presidency gave you heart palpitations of your own, you might wonder why our system does not inquire into the will of the voters when it comes to the bottom half of the national ticket. After all, the way veeps are now chosen is an utter perversion of democracy: None of us asked QuayIe to even come within shouting distance of the Oval Office, and the guy who did is the only one who wouldn't be around to endure a QuayIe administration if it ever came to pass.

Exit polls four years ago suggested that many Americans liked the idea of Bush and Bentsen in the White House. But no matter how much you liked Bentsen (or disliked Quayle), you couldn't get Bentsen without bringing Dukakis along for the ride. Why is that? Was it the Constitution that denied us the option of casting our ballots for, say, Carter/Dole in 1976, or for Nixon/Shriver in 1972? The short answer is that the Constitution imposes no requirements that national tickets be voted on as a whole. But setting aside legal and historical issues, ticket splitting makes sense not only because it's more democratic, but because it's practical: It could make our federal government more efficient and-hear us out on this--less divided. It could also make the role of the number two man more than that of a high-profile funeral attendee. With Americans going to the polls this November again hamstrung in their choices at the top, it's time to consider the advantages of an elected vice president.

One good reason for rethinking the current system-at least for strict constructionists--is that the Twelfth Amendment explicitly provides for separate balloting of the president and vice president. In elections in the early 19th century, various members of the electoral college did indeed choose to split their tickets. In 1836, for instance, a crucial bloc of electors cast ballots for Martin Van Buren but not for his running mate, Richard Johnson, sending the veepstakes to the House of Representatives. (Johnson eventually won.) Today, it's state laws that prohibit ticket splitting and since there are no federal laws requifing us to keep the ticket intact, changing the system would not necessitate the cumbersome process of a Constitutional amendment.

States may prohibit ticket splitting for presidential elections, but they're less prickly when it comes to their own elections. Many allow voters to choose a governor and...