I don't think there is anyone here that will say that our political system right now is perfect. There is a lot of talk about fixing healthcare and the economy etc. but nobody talks about how we are gonna break the cycle of perpetual campaigns, corruption etc. I don't think this is a partisan issue since both Republicans and Democrats are guilty of this.

I think a good start would be to implement term limits for Congressmen. This way politicians would start to be less self-serving and actually do what's best for their constituents instead of being concerned about their own re-election.

What do you guys think?

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"Masters of War" by Bob Dylan
"When a man assumes public trust, he should consider himself as public property"
-Thomas Jefferson
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."
-Albert Einstein
"One man with courage is a majority"
-Thomas Jefferson

I liked the British approach in 1812.

There is a lot of talk about Washington being imperfect, but there is no perfect form of Government. The gridlock and so-called inefficiency of our Government is a result of a balance of power. But we elect Representatives to Govern, whether it's to make better weapons or build better schools or protect consumers or promote the general Welfare of society.

We have the best Government in the world, we either use it or not. It's our choice.

The people deserve the representatives they elect.
It's too easy to put everything what goes wrong on the shoulders of politicians or systems. A governement, a party or a politician only has power because the people decide to hand it over to them - they can take it away too. Basically the American people need to solve it for themselves. Too bad you have such a large "silent majority" - that is often too silent and too large in numbers.
Look at the French, the Germans, the Brits, the Italians,... - if there is something they don't like they go on the streets - en masse.

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"No more borders! The Rhine to everyone! Let us be the same Republic, let us be the United States of Europe, let us be the continental federation, let us be the European freedom, let us be the universal peace!" - Victor Hugo, 1st of March 1871 in L'Assemblée Nationale

kick out all the silver spoon feed politicians and put the common every day working class in their place

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Switching to the Sainte-Lague method for electing our congressmen would be a huge, albeit radical, change that I'd like to see implemented. At least in the House of Representatives, while the Senate could remain with more or less the current format. Using this method, smaller parties would get some official say in our government. As it is right now, people are scared to vote for a third party in fears of "wasting" their votes on someone that won't win. This is how the Democrats and Republicans can have such total control. With the Sainte Lague method, smaller minority parties would be able to thrive (at least to some extent) and the two party monopoly would be broken.

Then it is a people problem. They are just going to have to get over it.

The democratic system works in most other democratic countries. The question is: Why does it not work in USA?

There are too few parties. Two is not enough. Why is the not a green party when AL Gore & Co is so active? Is there really only two ways to view the world? It is not diverse enough. Where is the party for MY views? The should be 4-8 parties.

The political debate is unserious and focuses on sabotaging the other guy/gal. If there where more than two candidates, adds might focus more on building up your own candidate rather than putting the other guy down. It is easier to spread mistrust than to build trust up (especially if your own candidate is suspect!).

It seems that the guy with the most money (= the most corrupt one) wins the elections. Is this really the best system?! Spending should be limited. Maybe television adds should be banned. Candidates should only be allowed to send one written folder per household. That should be enough to explain who, what and how. Then the voter could sit down, read the folders and make an informed decision.

Are you serious?

I am not saying that our system doesn't need fixing, but how can you claim such a thing? Are you really saying that the US climbed to the top by a broken system and surpassed countries who had a well-oiled system?

Please tell us how the US wins the gold in many aspect while it takes the short bus to school.

Anyways, to answer the OP, Lawrence Lessig thinks we need to address Congress first. Here he is on Democracy Now and he makes some salient points.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/2/5...democracy_back

Democracy is fools gold...

Every democracy in history has ended up in bloody chaos... America was founded as a Republic, and became great b/c the people were free to start businesses, and in general, conduct their lives as they saw fit, apart from government interference.

Of course, for those who seek power - limited government, i.e. Republican government, had to be done away with...

Tell me, any of you... if you were seeking to overturn a system of government in which the people were free, and the government restricted by law - and, you couldn't overthrow it by force - what form of government would you seek impose upon the masses in transition???

The answer is obvious - as Marx said in the Communist Manifesto, "... we must win the battle of democracy".

Democracy is a transitional form of government - always has been, and always will be. What we are seeing today is the predictable death of a once great nation. In terms of history, however, America's run of success and freedom has been relatively short.

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wist