I pitch around terms like “failed state” and “ungovernable,” in referring to our crashing nation state, but I imagine that these are just words for nearly all who may chance by.
The dramatic difference between where we already are, though, and how much more functional our political systems were just within my lifetime might offer helpful context.
An approximate and abridged timeline of dysfunction:
- c. 1980 amending the U.S. Constitution becomes impossible
- c. 1990 multi-day government shutdowns enter the picture
- c. 2005 steady growth in filibusters takes hockey-stick upward turn
- c. 2010 significant reform via legislation becomes impossible
- 2011 gerrymandering approaches perfection; debt ceiling brinkmanship
- 2015 total blockade of cross-party judicial appointments
- 2018 Violence Against Women Act cannot even get renewed
- 2019 total blockade of cross-party legislation
- 2020 broad Republican consent for schemes to reject a presidential election defeat
I don’t think this pattern points to “an epiphany” followed by a sudden return to cooperation and responsible good governance.
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