Today, when most people worry about the state of U.S. democracy, they focus on the threats to democracy posed by President Trump – his contempt for the rule of law, the Constitution, fair elections, etc. But that’s not what this web project is about. It’s about the deep structural problems that have always plagued our democracy and how other major Western countries enjoy much better democratic systems. For a long time, the U.S. has been afflicted by a malfunctioning political system. Key political institutions (the Electoral College, the Senate, our voting system, the Supreme Court, and the Constitution itself) have consistently violated basic democratic norms like fair representation, majority rule, and political equality. These serious problems will persist long after Trump is gone and they need to be addressed. Read the Introduction