… Understanding why the GOP is catering to extreme voters, even in places where trying to appeal to moderates seems more politically expedient, requires scrutiny of U.S. political history. The Founding Fathers feared political parties and demagogues, and designed institutions that would thwart them. But changes to the constitutional system, especially the widespread adoption of primary elections in the 1970s, have distorted and weakened our democracy by creating a perverse incentive structure that rewards playing to unrepresentative extremists. …
True rule by the “people” isn’t attainable under such a system that prioritizes the extremes, and the results end up feeding perpetual cycles of disappointment, populist attacks and promises of democratic renewal that prove meaningless. CONTINUED
Lawrence R. Jacobs (U. of Minnesota), Washington Post
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