The current follies in Washington represent more than just an ordinary political dust-up. The country faces a systemic crisis of governance because the ordinary incentive that keeps our political system functioning — that unreasonable behavior will be punished by the voters — has failed.
It is not difficult to understand how we have gotten to this point. With the assistance of powerful computers and a U.S. Supreme Court that is unwilling or unable to act, Congressional districts today are hypergerrrymandered to an unprecedented degree.
