It ' s a kid . <| sep |> Yeah if you ' re below 37 % right now , reroll the AS to cdr <| sep |> We ' re a federal constitutional representative democracy . We ' re also a republic , which is basically a representative democracy where ultimate sovereignty rests with the People rather than a hereditary monarchy or aristocracy . As you say , being a republic isn ' t inconsistent with holding a direct election for our head of state government . Most republics do . Under the U . S . Constitution , the federal government is a distinct , independent , and supreme sovereign entity . We are citizens of the States in which we reside . And we ' re simultaneously U . S . Citizens . The latter does not depend upon the former . We ' re subject to dual sovereignty . By way of example , Article IV , Section 2 of the Constitution states , in the relevant part , that the citizens of each state shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several states . This protects States from discriminating against other States ' citizens . Compare with Section 1 of the 14 th AmendmentAll persons born or naturalized in the United States , and subject to the jurisdiction thereof , are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside . No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United StatesBesides birthright citizenship , this protects U . S . citizens ' rights , for instance , to travel to and become citizens of other States by establishing residency . Structurally , these and other provisions show that the Constitution isn ' t simply a contract among the States , or between the States and the federal government . It ' s also the founding document for this distinct entitya federation of United Stateswhich , through operation of the Supremacy Clause U . S . Const . Art . IV , clause 2 , is made supreme over the States . Yes , the federal government has limited and enumerated powers . But when it exercises them , it prevails over any inconsistencies in state law . By entering into this arrangement , the States abrogated their sovereignty and subordinated themselves to the federal government . They retain limited sovereignty , as recognized by the 10 th Amendment , with respect to those areas where the federal government was not delegated power , has not exercised its delegated powers , or where state law isn ' t inconsistent with federal law . In other words , the Constitution doesn ' t just limit the power of the federal government . It expressly and implicitly limits the powers of the States . Besides that , the Constitution is also a direct contract between the federal government and the People see , e . g . , We the People . Preamble , 9 th Amendment , 10 th Amendment , independent of their status as citizens of the States . Currently , we still vote for President through the Electoral College . Part of that was distrust of how the people might make this choice , and a desire for an indirect election to screen demagogues see Federalist 68 . Another part of it was allowing slaveholding States to exercise voting power on behalf of 35 ths of their slaves . Neither of these rationales for the EC make sense anymore . The protecting small states argument collapses under any sort of real scrutuny . So we ' re left essentially with this is how we ' ve always done it . Since U . S . citizens are federal citizens directly , not just as state citizens , a direct election of the President is fully consistent with the U . S . ' federal structurejust as we elect State governors as citizens of our states . Indeed , it ' s arguably more consistent with the Constitutionas amended e . g . , 13 th , 14 th , 15 th 17 th Amendments and elaborated through case lawthan the EC is . Yet , the EC remains mostly from the rarity until recently of EVPV splits , and the difficulty of invoking Article V .