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13 votes
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What recent special elections can tell us about November's US election: They may throw cold water on the idea that 2020 will be another “blue wave”
10 votes -
A series of articles on the state of American democracy from early 2015 by Vox
American democracy is doomed ('constitutional hardball' is a great way to describe the 'modus operandi' of the Trump-McConnell GOP.) This is how the American system of government will die I found...
American democracy is doomed ('constitutional hardball' is a great way to describe the 'modus operandi' of the Trump-McConnell GOP.)
This is how the American system of government will die
I found their predictions to be kinda interesting (and clearly minimal)
The best-case scenario is that we wind up with an elective dictator but retain peaceful transitions of power. This is where I'd place my bet. Pure parliamentary systems, especially unicameral ones, give high levels of power to the prime minister and his cabinet, and manage to have peaceful transitions nonetheless. The same is true in Brazil, where the presidency is considerably more powerful than it is in the US.
But parliamentary systems also feature parties that are stronger than their leaders, which serve to prevent single individuals from garnering too much power. America's parties are getting more polarized, but they still aren't as strong as those of most other developed nations.
The worst-case scenario is if the presidency attains these powers and someone elected to the office decides to use them to punish political enemies, interfere with elections, suppress dissent, and so forth. Retaining an independent enough judiciary is a guard against this, but only if norms around obeying its rulings are strong. And, unusually, America allows for true independents, undisciplined by their parties, to become heads of government.
The US political system is not gonna collapse. It's gonna muddle though (A pretty interesting take. There are problems but people won't try to fix them but instead become disengaged and kinda forget about it.)
I think one of the things the authors missed while writing these this is how news became partidarized in the same manner, thus allowing outlets like Fox News to just consume the Republican electorate. They also missed how voting has been targeted too, and underestimated how willing the public was to act and how would the public react to this, which was by electing someone who didn't care about said broken Congress (or any sort of constitutionality), which is what became of Trump.
3 votes -
Do we really want a new Cold War with China? Corporate media is laying the ideological groundwork for a new cold war with China, presenting nation as a hostile power that needs to be kept in check.
20 votes -
Why anger against Trump might not be enough for Biden to win
6 votes -
We’ve updated our pollster ratings ahead of the 2020 General Election
8 votes -
Imperialism is using up the resources that could fight Covid-19
4 votes -
Are older US voters turning away from Donald Trump?
10 votes -
Grading the US Electoral College: C for chaos
4 votes -
The president’s job is to manage risk. But Donald Trump is the risk: Donald Trump was a gamble. It’s not paying off.
4 votes -
The prophecies of Q: American conspiracy theories are entering a dangerous new phase
6 votes -
The paranoid style in American politics: It had been around a long time before the Radical Right discovered it (1964)
5 votes -
Rep. Justin Amash ends his third-party White House bid: Amash said the timing wasn’t right, in large part because of the coronavirus pandemic
6 votes -
Never Trumpers will host their own ‘Republican convention’ during the RNC
12 votes -
Rep. Justin Amash “looking closely” at third-party run in US presidential election
14 votes -
Ignoring Donald Trump and right-wing think tanks, US red states expand vote by mail
12 votes -
Peter Dutton opens door to new Australian surveillance of journalists via foreign orders
6 votes -
Truckers see escalation, results during thirteenth day of Washington protest
9 votes -
In key US state of Florida, Trump stumbles among senior voters: Trump has virtually no path to victory without winning Florida, and older voters - which he is losing - are critical
5 votes -
Reflections on the Bernie Campaign: What it meant, why it inspired us, why we lost, and where we go now
5 votes -
The fight is on for US progressives to push Joe Biden to the left. They might just win.
9 votes -
US Senate approves bill to sanction China over Uighur rights
10 votes -
As COVID-19 gets worse, Trump is talking about things that the average American couldn't care less about
10 votes -
Stop trying to shame socialists into voting for Joe Biden: It’s really about performatively denouncing leftists as irresponsible, for the edification of the liberals who are watching
19 votes -
Ohio has stopped kicking workers off unemployment after a hacker targeted its website
12 votes -
Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down governor’s extension of stay-at-home order
13 votes -
Bernie Sanders says another US presidential run is 'very, very unlikely'
10 votes -
What to make of those new US Senate polls that have Democrats way ahead
12 votes -
#DemocracyRIP: What the Russian government did to the 2016 elections in the US was just the beginning
9 votes -
Pandemic has shown Australians we have less in common with the US than we thought
8 votes -
US polling suggests Tara Reade's allegations are having a moderate effect on public opinion of Joe Biden
21 votes -
Top Republican fundraiser and Donald Trump ally named postmaster general, giving US President new influence over Postal Service
8 votes -
Judge orders Bernie Sanders, Andrew Yang, others to be reinstated to New York primary ballot
21 votes -
Never Trumpers' strange relationship with the Democratic Party
11 votes -
Sparks fly in virtual hearing on Andrew Yang’s NY primary lawsuit: ‘New Yorkers are being denied their right to vote’
7 votes -
Republicans are sacrificing other Americans' freedoms for their own, like once happened in the American Civil War
9 votes -
Up to 85,000 voters could be removed from Florida electoral rolls
8 votes -
Republican Mitt Romney sides with Democrats calling for $12 hourly raises for essential workers in the US
22 votes -
Ex-Green Beret led failed attempt to oust Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro
14 votes -
Why Joe Biden should shy away from challenging Trump on COVID
2 votes -
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announces plan for free college tuition for front-line workers battling coronavirus
13 votes -
Chris Hedges: These "are the good times — compared to what's coming next"
10 votes -
Trump perceived as abnormally sadistic and narcissistic by both conservatives and liberals, study finds
8 votes -
Why Mitch Mcconnell wants US states to go bankrupt
15 votes -
Maryland governor Larry Hogan shows what a post-Trump, more moderate GOP could look like
7 votes -
Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Ramesh Srinivasan and Joe Cotchett
3 votes -
US President Donald Trump claims ‘Noble Prize’ tweets were sarcastic then shares deepfake Biden video in barrage of conspiracy-laden tweets
15 votes -
George Wallace's base has found a home in the Republican party
3 votes -
Why the two-party system is the root of the problems in the US's constitutional democracy
9 votes -
New evidence supporting credibility of Tara Reade’s allegation against Joe Biden emerges
12 votes