US politics is self-correcting?
Dec. 19th, 2016 04:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcAmerican politics exhibits obvious dysfunctions: with the help of market segmentation bringing the news people want, many voters believe objectively untrue things; a combination of voter suppression and gerrymandering biases elections; in governance we have cronyism, plutocracy, obstructionism and rule-tweaking: in general there isn't even a semblance of seeking, accepting and supporting the choice of an informed electorate. This is all well-known and malicious political interference has a venerable history.
I have taken it as a fact of life that political decision-making is not going to much match what is in the country's interest but also that it would not go very badly wrong for long because if the mendacious bad faith were too obvious then there would be a corrective revolt by the electorate. However, lately I have read opinion pieces that suggest that the worst plausible case is severe: that regional polarization and corporate donations and suchlike could keep the country divided and checks and balances so compromised that the US could be failing its way toward becoming a banana republic.
I do not know if it truly is plausible that the longer-term outcome could be so dire nor what could be done now to stave it off: exciting scaremongering may simply be good clickbait. Still, it is with some curiosity that I note the warnings.
I have taken it as a fact of life that political decision-making is not going to much match what is in the country's interest but also that it would not go very badly wrong for long because if the mendacious bad faith were too obvious then there would be a corrective revolt by the electorate. However, lately I have read opinion pieces that suggest that the worst plausible case is severe: that regional polarization and corporate donations and suchlike could keep the country divided and checks and balances so compromised that the US could be failing its way toward becoming a banana republic.
I do not know if it truly is plausible that the longer-term outcome could be so dire nor what could be done now to stave it off: exciting scaremongering may simply be good clickbait. Still, it is with some curiosity that I note the warnings.
