It happened in 1824. Again, it happened in 1876. And 1888. And then again in 2000. Most recently, in 2016. Five times the president has been elected through the Electoral College without attaining the popular vote. Is this a feature, bug, or necessary evil of the electoral system? While the support for the national popular vote movement has grown significantly in the past decade, there are many fervent opponents. Many of the adversaries to a popular vote system argue that under a national popular vote system, candidates would visit only the most densely populated areas in the country and then simply work to get all votes possible, gaining enough support to win the election without gaining much support from the rest of the country. To analyze these key arguments, this paper tests two hypotheses, the first of which is that under a popular vote system, densely populated areas are given more attention from presidential candidates than would be proportionately expected based on population. The second hypothesis is that candidates will spend more money on advertising per person in larger cities than in smaller cities. This paper will outline research from both a social media analysis and from a statistical analysis of specific state Senate elections and their media markets before concluding by refuting the two hypotheses and suggesting that a national popular vote system would not cause vast populations of Americans to be ignored any more than they currently are.

The page program at the state legislature has played an integral role in the daily operations of the legislative branch since the state's founding. This paper examines the demographics of the page program from statehood to now, the experiences that make the page program unique, and the outcomes it creates for public servants' careers. Additionally, a media component is included to observe the visual changes that the program has undergone in the last five decades. Participants include a handful of former pages from as far back as 1971 who sat for interviews regarding their time served as a page and are still public servants today. Beyond interviews, legislative journals, photos, and policies were referenced for research purposes. These former pages shared their experiences as a page and how it has helped them where they are in their career now. Furthermore, the paper explores the gender demographics from the turn of the century through 2012 of both page programs and legislators. It is evident that Arizona is a pioneer in women's representation in both the page staff and members, especially the page program. From this research into the various experiences as a page in the legislature it is clear that the program is an incredible networking opportunity unmatched by other entry-level jobs in government and that the passion it fuels will live on in public servants throughout their career. Moreover, without the page program the state legislature would not operate as smoothly and lack tradition in an environment that is ever-changing.