this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2024
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the_dunk_tank

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[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There's a case that constant 51/49 polls are a sign that American democracy is faltering on a nechanical level.

Good ideas in politics should be widely understood. One would hope to see 70/30 or more splits on most issues coming to a direct vote.

Without the FPTP electoral model, everyone would have to play the coalition card, which would likely lead to majorities larger than 51/49 for most legislation. Of course, it's also odd that even a two party systrm splits the country almost exactly evenly despite social shifts. It's like looking at a trench war that's been going on for 150 years. It's almost like business likes and supports a government prone to rictus.

If there wasn't so much cash floating in the system, it would be harder to coax the masses into voting against their own interests, again reducing the number of campaigns swung to a 51/49 outcome.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

A lot of good points here. I would slightly differ in that the cause of electoral failure in the US is not a breakdown in messaging or debate. It is because American politics are essentially cynical. Political ideas expressed by politicians are merely a means to an end, a playing card carried for the sole purpose of placing it down at the expedient moment. That is part of why the margins are so slim, because no party or politician wants to “spend” more of their cards than they must.

There is no significant diversity of political ideology in the US. It all serves the interest of capital.