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Governology's avatar

I think this whole essay is spot on, but I agree with the other commenters that one of the roots of the problem is the 2 party system. The DNC and RNC are entrenched undemocratic institutions given special government granted privileges over any other. They are "out of touch" because by and large they don't need to be in touch. They have structured the system so they by and large don't have to care about the vast majority of the population using gerrymandering and partisan brain worm narratives propagandized by a sensationalist news media. 75% of states almost never switch which party controls it's legislature or who they vote for for president.

The way we vote is a critical factor in entrenching this 2 party system. First past the post (vote for one of many candidates) is the literal worst voting system, and it's spoiler effects mean 3rd parties have no chance. We need to switch voting systems to score voting, approval voting, or ranked choice voting to eliminate (or in the case of RCV, reduce) the spoiler effect. We need to make it illegal to put a candidate's party on the ballot - make people do the research. Proportional representation for legislatures would also help enormously.

We need to recognize that it's not simply the parties that are broken, but it is the foundational structures of our government themselves that have shown their age poorly and need, not just repair, but an update. The aftermath of the great depression led to numerous errosions of the limits on the federal government, and those errosions have been disastrous for our country. As a country we need to recognize that our strength is the fact that we are a federation of states, United but separate. We cannot continue to make every issue an existential moral imperative that demands federal universal government action. An increasingly unlimited government is what attracts corruption. Reducing the power of the federal government is the only way to make corrupt influences less attracted to it.

This is why I support Represent Us, they're doing this kind of electoral foundational work. And all the important things are at the state level, which is their strategic focus.

We need a candidate to run on fixing the structures of our government. This would be massively bipartisan, but the existing parties don't want it. They'll resist it. So what do we do?

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Dave Foulkes's avatar

Micah.

This is thoughtful & heartfelt I know but the problem cannot be solved by the two party system that created it. A nuanced approach by one party can’t get airtime in the social media arms race that is the duopoly.

A curse on both their houses.

It may need to break entirely or next time it’ll just be a different 50% of the population that will feel alienated in their own country

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