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   Zauberlehrling (rvaughnmd@med-mastodon.com)'s status on Thursday, 16-May-2024 02:16:37 JST Zauberlehrling

   • I moved to Mastodon.social

   @Teri_Kanefield

   "we underestimated the depth of the reaction against multiracial democracy. Second, we overestimated the capacity of our institutions to withstand that reaction. These two phenomena – an intense authoritarian reaction and the vulnerability of our institutions – now threaten the very survival of American democracy."

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     Zauberlehrling (rvaughnmd@med-mastodon.com)'s status on Thursday, 16-May-2024 02:16:33 JST Zauberlehrling

     in reply to

     • I moved to Mastodon.social

     @Teri_Kanefield

     "The United States desperately needs institutional reform. We need to entrench voting rights. We need to replace the Electoral College with direct elections. We need to democratize the Senate. We need to eliminate the filibuster. We need to reform the Supreme Court.

     But our Constitution is exceedingly difficult to change."

     https://www.californialawreview.org/print/the-third-founding-the-rise-of-multiracial-democracy-and-the-authoritarian-reaction-against-it

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     Zauberlehrling (rvaughnmd@med-mastodon.com)'s status on Thursday, 16-May-2024 02:16:34 JST Zauberlehrling

     in reply to

     • I moved to Mastodon.social

     @Teri_Kanefield

     "Democrats are overwhelmingly based in big metropolitan centers while Republicans are overwhelmingly based in more sparsely populated territory. That means the Republicans have a systematic advantage in the Electoral College, in the Senate, and on the Supreme Court. That institutional bias allows the Republicans, in effect, to hold power without winning a national majority. In other words, our counter-majoritarian institutions are beginning to undermine electoral competition"

     Bill repeated this.
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     Zauberlehrling (rvaughnmd@med-mastodon.com)'s status on Thursday, 16-May-2024 02:16:35 JST Zauberlehrling

     in reply to

     • I moved to Mastodon.social

     @Teri_Kanefield

     We need to evolve our democracy

     "But over time, other countries shed their pre-democratic institutions.

     Britain weakened the House of Lords, stripping it of veto power. Denmark, Sweden, New Zealand, Portugal, Greece, Taiwan got rid of their upper houses. Germany, Austria, and Belgium democratized their upper houses by making them more proportional to the population. Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, France imposed term limits on supreme court justices."