The roots of America's democracy problem

Minority rule is a majority problem.

Political systems depend on legitimacy. In America, that legitimacy is failing.

In an earlier version of this video, we incorrectly reported the population of New York. The state's population in 2017 was 19.85 million people.

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[Deadchannel]

You have to have respect for Vox on their political videos because they leave the comment section on

[Strahinjatronik]

Don't kid yourselves. A nation with only two parties cannot be democratic.

[nadeyd]

“The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them” - Julius Nyerere

[lassel]

To become a democracy, several different political parties are needed, and not 1 with 2 different names.

[SynThenergy]

Ranked choice voting is the most important change because winner takes all elections mathematically and inevitably lead to two parties. Ranked choice voting gets rid of the spoiler effect. Want more independents, libertarians, socialists, other third parties? Implement for ranked choice voting. You can truly vote for who you want, not against a party you hate.

[---GOD---]

How does this guy look both 26 and 56 years old at the same time?

[two-gears]

A binary democracy, or a more accurate description "two-party system" is a democracy if you have a very broad definition of democracy.

[bobsaggat]

I hate the appeal to "The founding Fathers wanted x"

The founding fathers were great men. But they represented an extremely diverse group of political beleifs. The nation was hammered out on compromise and concensus between them.

When you say the founding fathers wanted x, it gives you the impression of trying to couch your own views in their mouths

[hfredydl]

No national amendments have gotten through lately because you need two-thirds of both houses to agree on a bill - and that means only bipartisan bills will pass through to the state approval stage — good luck finding anything with two-thirds approval in this day and age

[e.hhampsen]

"The founding father thought [political parties] were bad, or at least, they did before they started some." Living for factually correct shade.

[brendang]

"democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried" -Winston Churchill

[Danc]

"The answer is simple, we must move" I'm thinking of moving to Europe.

[ksubswithnovideoschallen]

we need 6 parties, one of the parties is at my house

[qualle]

I'm German and I think your biggest problem is first past the post. A proportional system on national level would lead to more parties and every single vote would count. Voting turnouts of 40% are actually not normal or okay in any western European state but I can understand people who dont vote in their 100% one party state or even district. If you worry about local representation getting lost, look at our German voting system. We have two votes, one for our local representative and one for the actual power division in parliament. Half of the seats are elected directly by the districts via the 1st vote, the other half is filled to match the 2nd vote's outcome as close as possible. So everyone is represented in parliament (except the minor parties below 5% to prevent fragmentation) and even Gerrymandering is obsolete. And please, get rid of the electoral college and allow run-offs for presidential election. Byebye two-party system and minority rule :)

[rageagainstrussianbots]

Who's watching this after the chaos at the Capitol?

[arizonaangler_A]

Well the 1st problem with America's democracy is Here in America we dont have a democracy... Its a constitutional federal republic. What does this mean? “Constitutional” refers to the fact that government in the United States is based on a Constitution which is the supreme law of the United States.

[jared]

Face it America needs a multiparty Parliamentary System. With a cap of any corporate donations or any donation from rich wealthy people. One time donation cap. The rest will be publicly funded.

[b]

It all started when Hamilton and Jefferson couldn’t get along.

[mobiledevice]

"The further get from the founding the more afraid we are to touch the system."

Wrong. We want change. Change has been proposed many times. The problem is that change is fought tooth and nail by powerful lobbying groups that are bought and paid for by entities that do not want to relinquish power and control over the systems that keep them funded and influential to public policy and industry regulation. Change dies in committee before it is even born. Change from the streets is vilified and disparaged. A non establishment candidate won't even be allowed to attend a presidential debate unless invited, regardless of polling numbers.

Any change to the system that would result in addressing and correcting the inherent socioeconomic, educational, judicial disparities of our society is a threat to that power.

WE are not afraid to touch the system. We are not afraid to try.
THEY are afraid of what would happen if we did.
THEY are afraid of becoming one of US.

[Jim_]

I don’t see why Americans:

1. have a low voter turnout

2. vote for a third party option

especially if they are so sick of the current system. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain. If you vote for corrupt politicians, then as George Orwell said ‘you are not a victim, you are an accomplice’, irregardless of your ideological beliefs