[armitron]

I think it's fair to say that believing in a "functioning US democracy" is akin to believing in Santa Claus.

There has never been a functioning US democracy, for at least as long as I've been alive (50+ years). Instead, the US political system can best be described as an oligarchy that catters to corporate power. The mechanism that constitutes the backbone of this oligarchy does not change, regardless of which political party "rules".

[Smudge]

I'm no fan of the system we have, and I agree that it's dysfunctional at best, but my view is that the only thing worse than a two-party system is a single-party system. All of the problems we have with the power structure of the current US system would only be amplified if one party gains full, long-term control of the federal government.

Assuming that there continues to be a system in which I can personally operate, I'm hoping to focus my efforts around promoting positive electoral reform ideas in whatever increments can be gained. Things like ranked-choice voting, campaign finance reform, fair representation laws to counter gerrymandering, etc. My dream would be to see the (de-facto) two-party system turn into a (functioning) multi-party system within my lifetime, with a greater number of smaller parties, better-representing those who voted for them, and who must form coalitions with other parties rather than enacting change unilaterally in winner-take-all scenarios.

Of course, for any of that to work, we need a media environment that isn't constantly amplifying the extremes, and a general populace that is more resilient to extreme forms of propaganda, radicalization, and manipulation.