The Founding Fathers established the electoral college as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote. They were attempting to create a blueprint that would allow for the election of the president without political parties, without national campaigns, and without disturbing the carefully designed balance between the presidency and the Congress, and between the states and the federal government. It sought to meet a number of democratic needs: to provide a degree of popular participation in the election process, give the less populous states some additional leverage in the election process, and generally insulate the election process from political manipulation.