4 ms·

If they vote against your interests you don't vote for them again and try to not get them re-elected. However, through writing their own rules, heavy campaignin

If they vote against your interests you don't vote for them again and try to not get them re-elected. However, through writing their own rules, heavy campaigning and the two party system making a vote for your favorite team better than letting the other guy get in this in effect no longer works on either side. It requires a fairly unified effort to get someone out but the majority of voting attention is squarely captured on both sides leading to the same hackery voted in again and again. It's one of the many reasons why I don't see changes in the American political system happening without real rebellion type actions but the pain isn't felt enough yet to make thinking like that completely palatable. And not to mention the voting body of the united states is completely polarized and divided.

guerrilla 4y ago
> leading to the same hackery voted in again and again. Or being replaced by an isomorphic sock puppet.
busterarm 4y ago
> It's one of the many reasons why I don't see changes in the American political system happening without real rebellion type actions but the pain isn't felt enough yet to make thinking like that completely palatable. Parties have changed in this country's history before without rebellion. It will happen again. I imagine soon (25 years or less), even.
- rob74 4y ago
  IIRC the last time that happened was in the 1850s, when the Whig party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)) lost its significance and was replaced by the Republican party? That's more than 170 years ago, so I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen again...
  - colinmhayes 4y ago
    The republican party just in the last 10 years changed from Reaganism to populism. Even if the name is the same their platform absolutely is not. When a party realizes their platform is a loser it'll change its tune.
- ianbutler 4y ago
  I think fundamental elements of the system are broken such that we even landed on a two party system in the first place and it’s more of those types of changes I’d like to see. In terms of ideology Parties change all the time. Look at the transformation the GOP has had over the last 10 years even. That I’m not worried about, but issues like term limits to prevent the effective gerontocracy we have, ranked choice voting, stopping arbitrary district restructuring, effective representation by population and more are things that benefit both existing parties regardless of their current ideology and so they don’t stand to change. I also go back and forth on the electoral college in the case of the president but I’m not quite at the point where I want it to disappear without having an alternative.

guerrilla 4y ago

> leading to the same hackery voted in again and again. Or being replaced by an isomorphic sock puppet.

busterarm 4y ago

> It's one of the many reasons why I don't see changes in the American political system happening without real rebellion type actions but the pain isn't felt enough yet to make thinking like that completely palatable. Parties have changed in this country's history before without rebellion. It will happen again. I imagine soon (25 years or less), even.

rob74 4y ago
IIRC the last time that happened was in the 1850s, when the Whig party (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whig_Party_(United_States)) lost its significance and was replaced by the Republican party? That's more than 170 years ago, so I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to happen again...
- colinmhayes 4y ago
  The republican party just in the last 10 years changed from Reaganism to populism. Even if the name is the same their platform absolutely is not. When a party realizes their platform is a loser it'll change its tune.
ianbutler 4y ago
I think fundamental elements of the system are broken such that we even landed on a two party system in the first place and it’s more of those types of changes I’d like to see. In terms of ideology Parties change all the time. Look at the transformation the GOP has had over the last 10 years even. That I’m not worried about, but issues like term limits to prevent the effective gerontocracy we have, ranked choice voting, stopping arbitrary district restructuring, effective representation by population and more are things that benefit both existing parties regardless of their current ideology and so they don’t stand to change. I also go back and forth on the electoral college in the case of the president but I’m not quite at the point where I want it to disappear without having an alternative.