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> as the electorate has already shown they don't care enough to vote their representatives out for doing it The problem arises from how we run elections. It's

by gwbas1c 11mo ago

> as the electorate has already shown they don't care enough to vote their representatives out for doing it The problem arises from how we run elections. It's very hard to dislodge an incumbent when the small group of people voting in a primary are very biased, and then the people voting in the general election really don't want the candidate from the other party. I suggest reading "Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop: The Case for Multiparty Democracy in America" by Lee Drutman. https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Two-Party-Doom-Loop-Multiparty/dp/0190913851 https://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Two-Party-Doom-Loop-Multipar...

amavect 11mo ago
Lee Drutman advocates for ranked choice voting, but implementations in the USA still degenerated to 2 parties. RCV still has a spoiler effect. https://realrcv.equal.vote/alaska22 https://realrcv.equal.vote/alaska22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhO6jfHPFQU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhO6jfHPFQU Instead, we need approval voting, or even STAR voting. https://www.equal.vote/ https://www.equal.vote/ (Drutman appears to have somewhat changed his views on RCV, but I don't think his "fusion voting" idea will catch on until we have multiple parties in the first place. https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/blog/how-i-updated-my-views-on-ranked-choice-voting/ https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/blog/how-i-updat... )
mola 11mo ago
It's funny. In my failing democracy people are convinced the solution is a two party system like the US (we have a parliament with a large amount of parties) Somehow I have a feeling the problem is not the system, but the culture...
- amavect 11mo ago
  >In my failing democracy Which nation, may I ask?
mrguyorama 11mo ago
Also you need a hundred million dollars to run a campaign at all. Bernie snuggles up to the democrat party because even being extremely popular doesn't ensure you will be re-elected if you don't run a campaign. The 2024 and 2020 elections cost $15 and $18 billion dollars. We literally spend more than it costs to build an aircraft carrier, for no reason. An entire industry exists to suck up that money every 2-4 years. All that money comes from rich "donors", who always want to ask how you feel about <X> before agreeing to give you that money instead of your competitor. Most countries have strict limits on how much you can spend on campaigns, and limit how early you can start campaigning. Only in the US do you have to endure presidential campaign adverts in off years. Only in the US have we decided it's wrong to prevent the rich from totally controlling our electoral process through their wealth and resources. This no limits system means our politicians aren't even up for sale, they are up for auction. Can you outbid Dupont the next time regulation comes up for forever chemicals?
- gwbas1c 11mo ago
  I've started to suspect that election season is the time to do anything "newsworthy" that you don't want in the news, because the election drowns out everything else.
- throwaway2037 11mo ago
  Also, most other highly developed democracies strictly limit the campaign period. The length of the US presidential campaign period is ridiculously long -- essentially unlimited.
throwaway2037 11mo ago
Once you see a multi-party parliamentary system up close, the US presidential system (and other presidential systems) look far inferior. They are frequently two parties only, and the executive branch is too strong. It is like electing a king/queen for 4 to 5 years. Plus the US system is setup to make it almost impossible to change the constitution. If you look at other highly developed democracies, they make small regular changes to their constitution -- that is impossible in the US.

by gwbas1c 11mo ago

amavect 11mo ago

Lee Drutman advocates for ranked choice voting, but implementations in the USA still degenerated to 2 parties. RCV still has a spoiler effect. https://realrcv.equal.vote/alaska22 https://realrcv.equal.vote/alaska22 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhO6jfHPFQU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhO6jfHPFQU Instead, we need approval voting, or even STAR voting. https://www.equal.vote/ https://www.equal.vote/ (Drutman appears to have somewhat changed his views on RCV, but I don't think his "fusion voting" idea will catch on until we have multiple parties in the first place. https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/blog/how-i-updated-my-views-on-ranked-choice-voting/ https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/blog/how-i-updat... )

mola 11mo ago

It's funny. In my failing democracy people are convinced the solution is a two party system like the US (we have a parliament with a large amount of parties) Somehow I have a feeling the problem is not the system, but the culture...

amavect 11mo ago
>In my failing democracy Which nation, may I ask?

mrguyorama 11mo ago

Also you need a hundred million dollars to run a campaign at all. Bernie snuggles up to the democrat party because even being extremely popular doesn't ensure you will be re-elected if you don't run a campaign. The 2024 and 2020 elections cost $15 and $18 billion dollars. We literally spend more than it costs to build an aircraft carrier, for no reason. An entire industry exists to suck up that money every 2-4 years. All that money comes from rich "donors", who always want to ask how you feel about <X> before agreeing to give you that money instead of your competitor. Most countries have strict limits on how much you can spend on campaigns, and limit how early you can start campaigning. Only in the US do you have to endure presidential campaign adverts in off years. Only in the US have we decided it's wrong to prevent the rich from totally controlling our electoral process through their wealth and resources. This no limits system means our politicians aren't even up for sale, they are up for auction. Can you outbid Dupont the next time regulation comes up for forever chemicals?

gwbas1c 11mo ago
I've started to suspect that election season is the time to do anything "newsworthy" that you don't want in the news, because the election drowns out everything else.
throwaway2037 11mo ago
Also, most other highly developed democracies strictly limit the campaign period. The length of the US presidential campaign period is ridiculously long -- essentially unlimited.

throwaway2037 11mo ago

Once you see a multi-party parliamentary system up close, the US presidential system (and other presidential systems) look far inferior. They are frequently two parties only, and the executive branch is too strong. It is like electing a king/queen for 4 to 5 years. Plus the US system is setup to make it almost impossible to change the constitution. If you look at other highly developed democracies, they make small regular changes to their constitution -- that is impossible in the US.