Facing the Four Structural Threats to US Democracy

According to some pessimists, the US Constitution was not designed to address the challenges of a country so sharply divided by income, race, and partisanship. In recent years, the California legislature has cleaned up redistricting, introduced “top two primaries” and an aggressive disclosure system...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProject Syndicate
Main Authors Tyson, Laura, Mendonca, Lenny
Format Newsletter
LanguageEnglish
Published Prague Project Syndicate 10.11.2017
Subjects
Constitution-US
Democracy
Gerry, Elbridge (1744-1814)
Politics
Primaries & caucuses
Social networks
Trump, Donald J
Voter behavior
North Carolina
United States > US
Texas
Massachusetts
Ohio
California
Florida
Virginia
Wisconsin
Arizona
Pennsylvania
Michigan
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Summary:According to some pessimists, the US Constitution was not designed to address the challenges of a country so sharply divided by income, race, and partisanship. In recent years, the California legislature has cleaned up redistricting, introduced “top two primaries” and an aggressive disclosure system, reformed term limits, eliminated a supermajority rule for state budgetary measures, and improved the ballot-initiative process. [...]the legislature has become dramatically more effective, and its approval rating has gone from just 14% seven years ago to 57% today – its highest level since 1988.