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  another grim marker of American civic decline that could lead to any number of outcomes—none of them good. ,<<< the country is rocketing forward into a new, explosive and even more bitterly divided partisan era.<<<

Assuming this is all true how bad does it have to get before there is something closer to real democracy in the US? Any rigged republic with a rigged senate, a rigged ' college ', a rigged judicial system and rampant gerrymandering will lead to predictably bad outcomes anywhere its trialed. Its not a democracy. So where is the push for reform?  More democracy? I won't hold my breath waiting for any lead from Bloomberg. BTW Agonism (from Greek ἀγών agon, "struggle") is a political and social theory that emphasizes the potentially positive aspects of certain forms of conflict. It accepts a permanent place for such conflict in the political sphere, but seeks to show how individuals might accept and channel this conflict positively.