[hemp_is_canvas]

There is the concept of illiberal democracy. The Senate, according to most political scientists who study this, is an important part of cutting that off that because bicameralism along with independent courts etc are good.

It's mostly populism rising and not realizing how dangerous it would be to have another check on power removed. Reform the system, don't just turn to blind populism.

[idle_zealot]

> No, we need the House of Lords, otherwise the plebeians might do something crazy like tax us!

[wat10000]

Do those political scientists say that it has to be so extremely unequal in its representation?

Right now, the least representative parts of our government are the ones pushing towards illiberality and populism. "Better democracy can be dangerous" really falls flat when our existing worse democracy is actively being dangerous.

[JumpCrisscross]

> the least representative parts of our government are the ones pushing towards illiberality and populism

Source? The President and--until like 24 hours ago--the House have been leading the charge on illiberalism and populism.

[wat10000]

The Supreme Court is leading the charge. The presidency is a close second. Congress is pretty much just watching.

[harimau777]

I'm not sure it's possible to reform the system. Its way too stacked towards corporate interests.

[whimsicalism]

There are plenty of little-r republican institutions that can put a check on populism without blatant disproportionate representation.