<< One fundamental problem is that without a parliamentary style of government where coalitions are required to form a functioning legislature the usefulness of values in elections is greatly diminished. If I may say,

This is may be where I personally have a problem. It used to be, in the olden days, that each congressman/senator was responsible to his/her constituents. That no longer appears to be the case. They are responsible to their own tribe ( party ). This is a major issue that would need to be corrected before anything substantial could be even considered. In other words, we used to 535 parties, but those have consolidated heavily to the detriment of the actual people they are supposed to represent.

I hate to say it like this, but the coming recession ( depression if we are not as lucky ) may actually piss people off just enough to point their pitchforks at the political class. It will not be pretty, because average American already holds their representative in very high regard ( that is, if they know their name, which is another conversation.. but when things go south, I am sure they will learn their name real fast ).

I had a longer rant, but I decided to trim it down.