Despite his acquittal in the U.S. Senate on a near party-line vote, President Trump's actions to put his personal political interest over our national interest should be unacceptable to any leader who takes an oath of public trust, regardless of party.
What was not anticipated by our Founders - and what presents today's true constitutional crisis - is the extent to which critical features of our system of governance are being undermined by our polarized two-party system and its reflexive partisanship.
Rather than a system defined by a "Separation of powers" in which each branch of government serves as a check and balance against the others, ours is a system increasingly defined by a "Separation of parties" in which both factions align across branches to maintain and grow their own power.
The delicate balance of our constitutional system, and the protections it provides, will be severely crippled.
Although our two-party system is nearly as old as our Constitution itself, the danger presented today is that both parties have distinctively sorted across ideological, geographical, and demographic lines in such a way that our tribal tendencies have become significantly more powerful and potent.
We must change political incentives by restructuring the rules of our elections so that our leaders put voters first - ahead of their political parties and special interests.
An electoral process with more competition between the parties and more participation from the voters will yield a political system that incentivizes governance in the public interest - and disincentivizes reflexive, zero-sum partisanship.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/02/07/partisanship_the_true_constitutional_crisis_142333.html
What was not anticipated by our Founders - and what presents today's true constitutional crisis - is the extent to which critical features of our system of governance are being undermined by our polarized two-party system and its reflexive partisanship.
Rather than a system defined by a "Separation of powers" in which each branch of government serves as a check and balance against the others, ours is a system increasingly defined by a "Separation of parties" in which both factions align across branches to maintain and grow their own power.
The delicate balance of our constitutional system, and the protections it provides, will be severely crippled.
Although our two-party system is nearly as old as our Constitution itself, the danger presented today is that both parties have distinctively sorted across ideological, geographical, and demographic lines in such a way that our tribal tendencies have become significantly more powerful and potent.
We must change political incentives by restructuring the rules of our elections so that our leaders put voters first - ahead of their political parties and special interests.
An electoral process with more competition between the parties and more participation from the voters will yield a political system that incentivizes governance in the public interest - and disincentivizes reflexive, zero-sum partisanship.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2020/02/07/partisanship_the_true_constitutional_crisis_142333.html
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