It is an underrated source of dysfunction in our politics that too many people believe our system of government makes any sense at all. Even when we export democracy abroad (as in Japan after World War II), we seldom encourage another country to adopt a constitutional model with a strong executive and an independently elected, bicameral national legislature. The reason for that, as the wiser political scientists will tell you, is that the system is inherently unstable and prone to collapse.
And yet, despite these obvious shortcomings, we inculcate a civic religion in America that claims our form of government is superior to all others. We’ve been taught to worship a demonstrably bonkers system as, essentially, divinely ordained.
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