General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe system is broken because...
...the Congress is broken.
Our Founders set up a system that required a balance of powers. But the Legislature has destroyed that balance. The entire system is now collapsing around the Executive Branch.
The Congress was to be the voice of the people, chosen from their ranks. Unfortunately, they fell prey to a con-man and a demagogue. They surrendered all their powers and the justice system, within the larger system, became meaningless. The Judicial Branch was not equipped to handle the problems presented and also fell prey to the demagogue.
It would be naive to suggest that the system is still intact and working the way it was meant to work. It is broken.
We cling to the hope of the next election.
Can it be fixed?
First, we must recognize that the system that our Founders put forth in the Constitution no longer exists.
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31st Street Bridge
(273 posts)Caused by gerrymandering,;
the rancid Electoral College;
the 1929 Permanent Apportionment Act that gave more power to small states by limiting the number of Congressional districts;
the avalanche of $$$ in politics;
metastasized igorance caused by Limbaugh, Fox and ceaseless right-wing propaganda.
Whip-poor-will
(685 posts)At one rep for every 30,000 , called for in the constitution, congress would be over 11,000
We could manage that except it's easier to bribe 435 looking for the highest bidders than 11,000+
I thought you couldn't change the constitution without an amendment ?????
DetroitLegalBeagle
(2,538 posts)Its the minimum district size. The Constitution bars having more than 1 Representative for every 30,000 people. It doesn't prevent larger numbers of people per Representative, it only gives a minimum.There was concern about having a overly large and unruly legislature, so they made a minimum district size of 30,000 to give an effective ceiling on how many Representatives there are.
muriel_volestrangler
(107,019 posts)The gerrymandering is the structural problem (and it frankly makes the USA a laughing stock among democracies). Districts need to be determined by neutral commissions that aim for a reasonable ethnic representation and boundaries that follow understandable lines (only splitting a city when it's got more people than one district should have, aiming for geographic compactness).
And inside the gerrymandered districts, the lunatic side of the Republican party is electing its lunatics in the primaries. Then, too many non-lunatics who see themselves as Republicans still vote for the nutters. So the extremists can cruise to victory in gerrymandered districts, and they then refuse to hold a rapist to account in the presidency.
Melon
(1,994 posts)For the people without manipulation, it should be cut all the same. Divide everyone and everyplace like a chess board. Ethnic is just manipulation for a different leader. We are a framework of ethnicities.
Torchlight
(7,361 posts)(an additional variant of your creative plurium interrogationum)
indusurb
(380 posts)Every office in this land, from dog catcher to president, is up for sale to the highest bidder. When there is that kind of monetary influence then government of the people, by the people and for the people winds up serving only the rich people. We need a Constitutional amendment making all elections, local, state and national, publicly funded. We also need to do away with lobbying and PACS as we know them. Take away the power and corruption of money and you'll have a government that serves all the people.
n Started mainly with citizens united and capped by the latest addition from the supremely corrupt high court
summer_in_TX
(4,392 posts)I'd peg it with several events during the Reagan administration. The end of the Fairness Doctrine. The rise of Grover Norquist, the No New Taxes pledge, the rise of the Heritage Foundation and the influence of the likes of Richard Mellon Scaife and Joseph Coors.
The rise of Rush, then of the calculated campaign to create distrust in mainstream media by Fox and to frame themselves as "fair and balanced." Newt.
The hollowing out of our democracy was quite noticeable by the early 1990s.
Another Jackalope
(233 posts)That triggered a massive increase in the corporatist takeover of America in the subsequent 30 years.
Timewas
(2,825 posts)Reagon seemed to be a major catalyst in all of it. But like the current idiot in charge he was not alone in it, in fact probably no real part in it except to e lead on and being so far into dementia.But the large amounts of speech(money) becoming available attracted many.
sop
(20,045 posts)concentrated in the hands of the few, but we cannot have both.”
That great wealth concentrated in the hands of the few bought our democracy, it no longer belongs to us.
Hey Joe
(913 posts)The overwhelming flood of money in our politics
is the #1 reason for our government disfunction.
This will be the main reason for our demise as a democracy, which is not possible in a bought and paid for government.
Cirsium
(4,289 posts)Perhaps you meant publicly funded campaigns? Still, there are many ways to bribe politicians other than campaign donations.
Taking away the power and corruption of money does not necessarily mean you'll have a government that serves all the people.
KPN
(17,623 posts)the corrupting influence of money be removed.
tanyev
(49,999 posts)
NNadir
(38,925 posts)...partisan hacks with zero respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
The Constitution is dead. We need a new one, but we do not have the types of patriots in a position to write it. We're screwed.
intheflow
(30,319 posts)We need a new Congress to respect it and reform it. Like a dilapidated old house, the bones are good, solid. It just needs some updates.
NNadir
(38,925 posts)The 18th century document, despite its long and sometimes tragic success, us worn out and insufficient for our times.
dave99
(796 posts)NNadir
(38,925 posts)...and no workable mechanism to remove it from office.
dave99
(796 posts)NNadir
(38,925 posts)...et al., needs replacement.
Another is the Electoral College, the last remaining artifact of the human slavery that many at the Constitutional Convention practiced.
I am not talking about guns however, although I'm quite sure that James Madison had no idea of the concept of bump stocks, machine guns, or for that matter, nuclear weapons or Kevlar. The amendment was about militias, not giving thugs weapons to shoot up elementary schools, but no matter...
Neither were the founders aware of the power of instantaneous communication, telephones, radios, TVs not to mention the big elephant, the internet.
I am talking about the entire system which has evolved under political parties - which the founders held in contempt although they did nothing successful to prevent their rise - it's outlived its magnificent history of usefulness.
The Supreme Court is a case in point. The founders could not imagine that highly politicized partisans, rapists, religious fundamentalists, openly bribed types like Clarence Thomas, would be on the court with lifetime appointments, impossible to remove outside of death. They had no idea of the molecular biology of aging, nor the mechanisms of extreme wealth beyond monarchies by which one could buy Justices like Thomas, Alito, et Roberts, et al.
They didn't anticipate the likes of McConnell, or for that matter, Lindsay Graham.
The founders had no idea that access to information - an independent press - could be purchased and turned into mechanisms of instantaneous propaganda.
The Constitution is dead. A political party killed it. We need a new one for our times.
intheflow
(30,319 posts)It has a mechanism to correct the inadequacies we’ve recently discovered. It’s called amendment. And it can happen if we take back the 3 branches. And as impossible as that seems, creating something new out of whole cloth would be much more difficult.
NNadir
(38,925 posts)...for Christmas a year or so ago that I really must find time to read, although I never get around to it.
It's this one:
Fears of a Setting Sun.
It's about how the founders themselves questioned what they'd built. They needn't have worried so much, until, now.
The US Constitution was a great work for the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, but it's worn out by the technology of our times. It no longer works to establish Democracy; it has become lipstick on an oligarchy that pretends to be a Democracy. It can't handle the technology of our times, in particular, information technology.
dpibel
(4,048 posts)3/4 of the states have to approve a Constitutional amendment. Check your latest tabulation of red vs. blue states.
Another example of the profoundly antidemocratic nature of the Constitution.
Your argument is about like saying, "But if we have an insane president, the Constitution gives us the cure: Impeachment.
Just as likely as an amendment.
thomski64
(1,020 posts)He can't leap over tall buildings in a single boundary
He's not faster than a speeding bullet.
NNadir
(38,925 posts)...once powerful nation into the ground, impossible to remove from office despite his obvious destructive impulses.
One doesn't need to be a cartoon character to do vast in many cases irreversible damage, and I think one would need to suffer from intellectual and moral myopia to suggest he isn't doing such damage. The existing Constitution has no means to stop him.
Martin Eden
(16,137 posts)The majority in Congress and the Supreme Court are the opposite of that, and especially the president and those he appoints.
Tetrachloride
(9,805 posts)for a long while. maybe longer.
betsuni
(29,513 posts)As always, Republicans' goal is government dysfunction, making Democrats appear to be unable or unwilling to do anything. Then others accuse them of being corrupt by campaign donations, out-of-touch and unaware of the problems that obviously only Democratic policies are helping, "ignoring the working class," idiotic name-calling, character attacks. It never ends.
Then people get cynical, don't vote, vote third party, vote for idiots who promise impossible things and everything is still blamed on Democrats.
Only the Republican Party is broken. And anyone lying about Democrats are helping.
TBF
(37,773 posts)Last edited Sun Jul 5, 2026, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)
Expand the court and/or term limits on the Supreme Court.
Overturn Dobbs - women need to have agency over their reproductive rights.
Universal Health Care (and yes we will tax companies and billionaires)
Tax - on Wealth, Trades, etc - not just income
Work on repairing international relations
Health in General - reinstate everything RFK Jr destroyed
Enforce establishment clause - separation of church & state
just a start of the things that need to be fixed
dave99
(796 posts)
ShazzieB
(23,133 posts)Dobbs was the ruling that that overturned Roe.
Abortion was ruled to be a constitutional right under Roe. That was great while it lasted, but it was always vulnerable to another SCOTUS coming along and saying "Nuh-uh, that's not a constitutional right!" The Roberts Court did exactly that, and Americans instantly lost a right we'd had for half a century. Congress needs to enact legislation that legalizes abortion throughout the U.S. so that it's not left up to the whims of whoever is on SCOTUS ar a particular time.
TBF
(37,773 posts)TBF
(37,773 posts)that needs to be added -
Trump has destroyed so much and it hasn't even been 2 full years. The agencies are in shambles, corruption is rampant, he tore down the whole east wing of OUR house & the list goes on.
We need strong separation not just of church & state, but there have to be ways to keep the executive branch from becoming too powerful. Obviously, Congress was easy to buy off so we've got to think of a structural way to keep that from happening again.
And another big one - replace electoral college with one person/one vote. We have the technology. I'd like to see our Social Security number used to ensure we can vote (also for obtaining things like health care).
I_UndergroundPanther
(13,424 posts)TBF
(37,773 posts)
Ponietz
(4,716 posts)I’d say its ignorance, apathy, and stupidity. I can’t imagine not voting and can’t understand why oppressed peoples refuse to vote after all we’ve been though.
dave99
(796 posts)moniss
(9,228 posts)founders assumed that people would never be so craven, evil and stupid as to game and pervert the entire system. The idea that people would be so sick and evil as to willingly and knowingly destroy everything around them is a major feature of sociopaths and mental illness was not understood really at all in Colonial times.
LuvLoogie
(9,081 posts)Last edited Sun Jul 5, 2026, 02:08 PM - Edit history (1)
over liberty and justice for All. It has never atoned. It has simply moved on to exploit other peoples and their resources once our frontiers were subjugated and divyed up for its natural wealth.
The system promotes and protects white supremacy, which finds itself under pressure by the mere existence and peaceful evolution of those it distains.
The minutia of government is born of the core motive. Chaos among the othered and power over them is their motivation.
Caring for each other is the only way out. Walking away from the myth that we have friends across the aisle. They are the progeny of America's original sinners.
I will vote. But understand that we likely have 30 to 50 house members and 10 to 15 senators that will continue to compromise justice for a minute with the gavel at 50% plus 1.
oldmanlynn
(887 posts)It is us voters who can fix it through our efforts of going out and voting. We could also try to talk to our neighbors and friends and convince them of the same. That’s how we can change it. to be honest with you we absolutely have to do that here in the midterms and the next election. It’s an absolute must or we give up the system.
dave99
(796 posts)get rid of each one, from the top o the most little local position
if that happens, the U.S. may rise to the People
I_UndergroundPanther
(13,424 posts)We ride at dawn
chouchou
(3,472 posts)One of my friends came from Finland ..(husbands job here) Her English is ..ahh..fairly good.
She said one day, last week...."Gee..Americans put up like the slaves as they put up with in the 18 hundreds "
"Seems they are stress in a lot of things"
I told her "Honey...You're on the outside....Your words are true" "A lot of Americans are in a bubble"
bucolic_frolic
(56,465 posts)Political power has been concentrated into the GOP side of Congress, SCOTUS, and Executive branch purges.
How you dissipate power from here is a conundrum. The quickest path would be financial collapse. The historical record of democracies overthrowing concentrated power is not extensive.
Exp
(1,085 posts)population and the world gets smaller in the quick communications sense.
States that were weeks away are now 4 seconds away.
dlk
(13,500 posts)Our government has been bought.
bluestarone
(22,622 posts)Our constitution authors way back then could have NEVER dreamed of anything like we are witnessing today. When we take our house back we need to attack money in politics. That's the answer, the QUESTION is HOW?
TBF
(37,773 posts)It has to go - that is why the PACs are so powerful. Individuals have limits on giving; but open a PAC and all that flies out the window.
-misanthroptimist
(2,117 posts)Congress is broken because of national political parties. Congress, as you say, was supposed to represent the People (E Pluribus Unum). Instead of representing their constituents, most Representatives now represent their party first (Out of two...what, exactly?)
The People are there merely to validate the parties.
JMO
kentuck
(116,261 posts)They saw the danger in Parties that we are witnessing today. They would be used to divide the people and weaken our union.
-misanthroptimist
(2,117 posts)...of foreseeing dangers generally. Pity they couldn't have resolved slavery, but those were the times they lived in (or in which they lived if one is obsessed with grammar.)
Warpy
(114,792 posts)erronis
(25,133 posts)According to the doctrine, "benign" governments have the interests of all at heart, whereas "malignant" governments have the interests of a select few at heart. However, all six are considered unworkable because the first three rapidly transform into the latter three due to political corruption.
The idea of anacyclosis influenced theorists of republicanism. Some of them, including Aristotle, Cicero, Machiavelli, Vico and Kant suggested that mixed government might help to stabilize republics and prevent permanent anacyclosis.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anacyclosis
Warpy
(114,792 posts)but it was threatening to turn into a book so I just hhoped somebody would look the word up.
Thanks for confirming my faith in DU.
Historians from Polybius to Toynbee have all come up with the same idea but they all seem to want to tap dance around the mechanisms behind the eventual concentration of power and then decline.
erronis
(25,133 posts)If I don't do that, I'll lie awake wondering...
But to the larger question: If humans were so superior, so rational - wouldn't we have figured out how to avoid this crazy cycle?
Or perhaps there is a god. And she is playing with us.
31j20b3
(206 posts)Trumps authoritarian regime is destroying the last vestiges of the original concept, though I admit it was largely destroyed by oligarchs buying up the representation in government.
Once upon a time the two sides would argue for a landing zone between two or more opposing congressional viewpoints. Things didn't usually happen as they were first proposed, but some motion toward something that could be agreed upon was very often found.
What we have now is representation that almost equally divides between the right and left. BUT we are more strongly divided into camps out to defeat the other side than at almost any time in our post civil war history.
kairos12
(13,862 posts)where people deliberately sabotage the entire system colluding with a conman. Result: system meltdown.
BurnDoubt
(1,971 posts)that’s them way it works best for the people with the cash to buy it.
OldBaldy1701E
(11,889 posts)The corruption of money into the system, per the capitalistic principles that we have embraced to the point of worship, has ruined the system, because once those special interests got a foothold, they began to tweak the system to favor themselves.
It was all over at that time. And, we didn't even witness it, because most of us were trying to survive the broken system while those who profited by it kept on sucking in the wealth.
We sat here and let them do this. Why we are worried about the broken system is curious, because I have seen no indication that we are willing to address the root cause of this whole thing.
So, it will just keep on happening.
Mysterian
(6,782 posts)An entire political party has no loyalty to the constitution and seeks total power through any means.
pansypoo53219
(23,289 posts)heil rupert.