The Roman Assembly used a direct voting system, impractical in the United States because of the vast geography and the difficulty of assembling the people. Instead the convention opted for a representational system featuring elected officials as representatives of the people. The founders felt that representatives trained to serve in the government would be better equipped to take care of the needs of the public than the people themselves.
With the structure of the legislative branch finalized, the convention when on to debate the office of chief magistrate or president. Some advocated a dual president like the Roman consuls; some wanted one executive per region to protect the interests of each region; others were opposed to any executive because he would represent a dangerous concentration of power.