ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the institutional dimensions of the case for change: Congress, the presidency, the Court, and the Electoral College. In American political culture, references to democracy are ubiquitous and holding rulers to account is fundamental. Majoritarian and anti-majoritarian, republican and liberal features coexist in creative tension. Competition between parties is an essential component of a responsive democracy that addresses citizens' concerns. But the ideological separation of parties has weakened the system of balanced powers, generating "a government of separated institutions competing for shared power". The Constitution gives Congress an extensive foreign policy remit, including the power to declare war, ratify treaties, and authority to regulate commerce with foreign nations. In terms of electoral competition, democratic representation and governance, the rise of negative partisanship and polarization is not an illusion but unique in American history, reflecting an unprecedented alignment of racial, ethnic, religious, geographic, and ideological divides.
