Originally a comment by Screechy Monkey on A set of enduring core principles.

The problem is that the Founders were so terrified of democracy that they installed a system with so many “checks and balances” that it’s a recipe for gridlock and lack of accountability. Recent custom has only made this worse through things like requiring 60 votes in the Senate to pass most measures.

In other countries, one party (or a coalition of parties) wins an election, and has more or less free reign to govern as they see fit, subject to some broad restrictions. Then after however many years they have to return to the voters and be judged on their governance. But in the U.S., what are voters deciding this midterm election on? Democrats haven’t been able to do much of what they’d like because they weren’t able to get 60 votes in the Senate, or because Manchin or Sinema wouldn’t supply the 50th vote, or because the Supreme Court intervened. And it’s even worse when there’s divided government. Assuming the GOP takes at least one house of Congress, governance in 2023-24 is going to consist of whatever Biden can do through executive power alone, plus the bare minimum that can actually be agreed upon to keep the government funded and the debt ceiling raised. Will voters in 2024 blame Biden for not getting more done, or blame the GOP for obstructionism? Who knows? We’re lucky if the average voter knows who controls either house of Congress at any given point in time, they sure as hell don’t know what a cloture vote is.

Since most voters don’t know who to praise or blame for what they like or don’t like about the state of the country, there’s no real accountability. As a result, we’re seeing more and more “Constitutional hardball.” Not enough voters give a shit about things like democratic norms, so the GOP seeks to grab power by whatever means are technically available or at least give the appearance of being available.

Some Americans are so used to Constitutional hardball that they’re befuddled that other countries don’t play it. Many of them can’t grasp the idea that the sovereign of the United Kingdom “reigns but does not rule.” (Note: I’m not referring to Americans who dislike the idea of monarchy or have objections to it. I’m just talking about the jokers who think that there’s a real danger that Charles is going to, I don’t know, outlaw certain types of architecture he doesn’t like.)

The Canadian constitution allows federal and provincial legislatures to override the constitutional Charter of Rights, via something called the “notwithstanding clause.” It gets used occasionally, but mostly to prohibit strikes by certain unions (Ontario is considering that now, I believe), or by Quebec to enforce some of its language laws. There’s also a power of disallowance whereby the federal Cabinet — it doesn’t even require a vote of Parliament — can veto a provincial legislature’s passage of a bill. That power hasn’t been used since 1943. I can only imagine the shitshow that would result if American states could override the Bill of Rights, or if a President could invalidate state laws.