Milosa has been asking some interesting questions about the durability of democracy in our current political climate but I wanted to cut to the chase and state what I personally think the root of the problem is.

People.

Democracy is government by the people, so it makes sense to start with the people instead of blaming politicians for everything. You see, in a democracy politicians are mere representatives. They are supposed to do what the people want them to do unless there is a conflict with the constitution. That covers Congress as per Article I of the U.S. Constitution.

The Administration (Article II) is supposed to do what Congress tells it to do. Every executive order, every regulation, every military command should comply with directives from Congress.

So that is the political chain of command... The president commands the administration and the military, but he answers to Congress and Congress answers to The People. This is according to the constitution bound to the republic we call the United States of America.

The PROBLEM arises from the "culture of winning" that has saturated the last two generations of Americans. From the handing out of "participation awards" to the commercial tenant that the "customer is always right" we have developed into a culture that is utterly incapable of dealing with defeat, or loss... or... compromise.

Unfortunately, compromise is what makes democracy work. Democracy is clearly for people who are mature enough to know that you can't ALWAYS get what you want. I feel this culture of always wining and always getting what you want as if it's a civil right was accelerated when Libertarians started taking Ayn Rand's word that selfishness drives a better economy. Now selfishness is a redeeming quality, but it's corrosive to democracy.

Everything else stems from there.

So even if a politician is doing his job representing the will of the majority in his district, someone who isn't getting his way will call him an evil, corrupt politician and that goes into the media machine to influence those whop don't even know what the politician is doing.

In summary, democracy... the ONLY system that puts the people in charge, is eroding in America because the American people in have evolved into selfish little bitches.