Democracy depends on voters holding their leaders accountable. Because of the broken elections system, we can’t do that.
- Our vote doesn’t really matter
- Most congressional elections are decided before we vote
- At the state level, the party in power stacks the deck
- Politicians aren’t accountable to voters – they don’t answer for their malfeasance
- Gridlock and distractions rule the day
- It is clear why trust in institutions continues to plummet.
Until we reform the election system, there’s no reason to believe elected officials will uphold their oath to do what is best for their constituents and the country.
Democracy in America is at risk, and the broken election system is a big reason why.
Our current system isn’t working. Politicians need to be held accountable for their actions.
We can do better.
Why Are Elections Broken?
Elections and politics are complicated but inter-twined issues. There’s no one answer to why elections are failing to result in competent leaders. The malfeasance we see in government today is the result of myriad, interrelated factors that exacerbate each other. Many of the issues breaking elections are reflections of deep societal issues that go beyond just elections. The media and polarization, the influence of money in government, voter apathy, and distrust in institutions transcend politics and are affecting our entire society.
But because elections determine who is in power, improving the election system is a powerful lever to affect meaningful change.
Untangling the broken election system is possible. Some factors play an outsized role in diminishing the effectiveness of elections to hold our leaders accountable. This article is an attempt to understand the causes of our broken elections.
Two elements of the election system in particular are playing an outsized role in the overall dysfunction.
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is an undemocratic practice that takes away the rights of voters to have a say in who represents them. In essence, it’s politicians picking their voters through manipulating district lines, rather than voters choosing to elect the people they feel are best suited for a given office. This blatant manipulation of district boundaries, which has been a known problem since 1812, is used by the party in power to gain more seats in the legislature and renders the votes of many powerless, which harms democracy and runs counter to how our founding fathers intended elections to be conducted.
The Primary System
The primary system is another reason why elections don’t hold politicians accountable for doing a lousy job.
Hyper-partisanship means that most congressional and senatorial races are formalities. Except for a handful of races each cycle, the democratic candidate wins in blue states, the Republican candidate in red states.
In the primary system, candidates compete within their party to secure the nomination to run for office. Relatively fewer voters take part in the primary process and those that do tend to be more partisan. Most states limit primary election voting to people registered with the party, so moderates and independents are excluded. These factors mean that the primary system inherently favors candidates that cater to the more extreme or loyal base of their party.
As a result, the candidate who wins the primary is often not the candidate that appeals to the most voters is best equipped to win a general election, or would do the best job in office. A primary responsibility of members of Congress and the Senate is to speak to, and compromise with, members of the opposite party. The primary system punishes those that seek compromise and rewards those that don’t.
The primary system results in more extreme and polarized candidates being elected. These candidates make it more difficult for politicians to work together and get things done once they are in office.
Sky-high Re-election Rates
The election system results in one of the most frustrating aspects, that the same useless members keep getting re-elected. Despite the massive numbers of Americans highly dissatisfied with Congress, we keep seeing the same people winning election after election.
According to Open Secrets, in the 2020 congressional elections, the overall re-election rate for incumbents in the US House of Representatives was 92%, and in the US Senate, it was 84%. Over the past several decades, the overall re-election rate for incumbents in both chambers of Congress has typically been around 80% or higher.
These are career politicians who aren’t helping improve the lives of their constituents. A big contributor to this is Gerrymandering and the primary process. We need to find ways to remove elected representatives that aren’t helping their constituents from office.
The primary process and Gerrymandering are two election and voting-specific issues that make it difficult for effective individuals to replace the clowns we have now. But like everything, many other issues are exacerbating the problem of unaccountable leadership.
Politicians Care About Getting Reelected -Not What’s Best for the Country
Politicians are focused on promoting themselves at the expense of their constituents. Donors come first, and voters last. Instead of doing what is best for the nation, they are primarily concerned with staying in office and maintaining power. The only way to do that is to keep the money train rolling.
Officials make decisions that benefit them rather than the public good, leaving citizens feeling betrayed and shortchanged. This obsession with reelection is insidious and needs to be put to an end. It damages our democracy and prevents leaders from making progress for future generations.
The Powers That Be Want Elections Broken
One of the main reasons for the election system being as bad as it is is because the people with the power to fix it like it broke. They want gridlock. They want distractions. They want their entrenched, money-hungry puppets there.
The people who are comfortable like the status quo just fine. Who knows what change brings, so why upset the apple cart?
The Two-Party System
Our two-party system is controlled by the most powerful people in the country. Whether they are politicians, lobbyists, or business leaders, they all work together so that they benefit at the expense of everyone else. The two-party system ensures that only candidates willing to “play ball” get elected. In the off-chance an honest candidate makes it through, the parties hold them in check. To enact legislation you need others to vote for you. “Troublemakers” those pushing change and reform, don’t stand a chance against the entrenched powers that have been benefiting from the system for decades.
The two-party system guarantees zero progress on any issue that will help people if it could potentially threaten the comfort of the powerful. We can have solar panels and infrastructure, so long as there’s money to hand out.
Don’t fool yourself, Democrats and Republicans are on the same team, the team of the powerful. Their “differences” are at the fringes and revolve around hot-button issues that easily rile up the base.
Big Money
The huge sums of money required to win elections are another reason the system is so jacked up.
Corporations and the wealthy donate huge sums of money and more or less determine who gets elected and what policies they support. This money is particularly impactful in primary elections, which as we’ve talked about result in more extreme candidates.
More than $14 billion was spent on the 2020 election cycle.
Estimates put the cost of winning a House race in the 2020 election cycle at over $2 million, while the average cost of winning a Senate race was over $27 million. The election cycle is just a money laundering operation. Donors give the money to politicians, who give it to the media, who chose who gets elected, and the elected officials give it back to the donors via legislation.
Our voices hardly count for anything when the powerful already have theirs heard so clearly in the halls of government.
Politicians’ real benefactors are the wealthy individuals and corporations that fund their election in the first place. Those donors are rewarded with favorable laws and regulations that suit their interests while hurting the nation as a whole.
The Influence of Money In Government >>
Polarization
Extreme division across the country is also a major factor in the broken election system. It’s difficult for candidates to bridge the gap between these two sides and be effective representatives of both. Gridlock ensues, and no real progress can be made when both sides are so entrenched in their beliefs.
The anger and complicated emotions running rampant on either side make it that much harder to find candidates willing or able to do the real work of compromise and negotiation at the heart of legislating.
The Media
Deeply intertwined with this problem of polarization is the media, which thrives on making it worse. The media represents and work hand in hand with the two political parties as well as the wealthiest people and businesses in the country to keep us divided. They want us angry at the other side so that we don’t work together to demand real, accountable, honest representatives.
They want of angry at things like abortion, gender, race, illegal voting, sensationalized crime, Russian interference, and other issues that don’t impact the day-to-day lives of most of us. Issues, while important to many, don’t threaten corporate profits.
The media is owned and controlled by corporations that want us angry and distracted on issues that don’t threaten profits.
Elections Should Reward Progress
Our founding fathers weep at what their vision has become. An ingenious system for promising life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness has been co-opted to reward the powerful at the expense of everyone else.
But reforming the election system, ensuring that it promotes the best among us and that it helps move us forward as a country, is possible.
Fixing the election system is one of the most powerful ways to make the country better.
