This is Donald Trump’s summary of Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination: “I think it’s working out very well.” The US president believes similar things about democracy in America.
In practice, the US system is dissolving in vitriol. The constitution was designed to discourage organised factions. History has turned full circle. That body of laws is now a plaything of two increasingly venomous parties. One deserves more of the blame. But the other is catching up.
The degradation is breathtaking. Before Barack Obama’s election, it was common to lament the rise of American partisanship. Many trace it to the aftermath of the cold war when Newt Gingrich became Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives.