It’s easy to see how the idea that a minority wouldn’t prevail would be logical when you consider how many parties existed at the time the Federalist Papers were written, as well as the delays in communication. Just as we see a homogenizing influence in chain restaurants and stores, first in the US and now world wide, we see fewer parties with any chance to prevail. The founders also couldn’t foresee the effect of campaign contributions and while lobbying is nothing new and goes back to ancient times, it certainly is very different in scope and reach than seen hundreds and thousands of years ago.
I see several factors that contribute to the current crisis of minority rule that need to change:
- get rid of the electoral college. It’s outdated and based on the principal of restricting the vote
- ethics rules for federal judges need to have teeth and need to apply to Supreme Court justices
- expand the supreme court to match the number of circuit courts snd do away with lifetime appointments
- campaign finance reform needs to be revisited and shored up. As the late great Molly Ivins said, campaign finance reform will always be a work in progress and while those aren’t her exact words, that what she meant. One and done doesn’t work for this and I’d go so far as to say we need public campaign financing only but I know that will never fly.
It’s easy to see how the idea that a minority wouldn’t prevail would be logical when you consider how many parties existed at the time the Federalist Papers were written, as well as the delays in communication. Just as we see a homogenizing influence in chain restaurants and stores, first in the US and now world wide, we see fewer parties with any chance to prevail. The founders also couldn’t foresee the effect of campaign contributions and while lobbying is nothing new and goes back to ancient times, it certainly is very different in scope and reach than seen hundreds and thousands of years ago.
I see several factors that contribute to the current crisis of minority rule that need to change:
- get rid of the electoral college. It’s outdated and based on the principal of restricting the vote
- ethics rules for federal judges need to have teeth and need to apply to Supreme Court justices
- expand the supreme court to match the number of circuit courts snd do away with lifetime appointments
- campaign finance reform needs to be revisited and shored up. As the late great Molly Ivins said, campaign finance reform will always be a work in progress and while those aren’t her exact words, that what she meant. One and done doesn’t work for this and I’d go so far as to say we need public campaign financing only but I know that will never fly.
All good ideas.