Now I have very little respect for the electoral system in…
““Now I have very little respect for the electoral system in the United States. I could have respected it in the early days, when the country was small and we had small population. The system that we have in the United States was set up at a time when the total population was the population of Tennessee. We've stretched it to try to make it work for different kind of problems and in stretching and adapting it, we've lost its meaning. We still have the form but not the meaning. There's a lot of things that we have to look at critically that might have been useful at one time that are no longer useful I think there's some good in everything. There's some bad in everything. But there's so little good in some things that you know for practical purposes they're useless. They're beyond salvation. There's so much good in some things, even though there's bad, that we build on that.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
The speaker argues that the US electoral system, designed for a much smaller population, has become a hollow form lacking its original purpose, retaining structure but losing meaning, and that many outdated mechanisms are now ineffective while some still hold value.
In simple terms: The US voting system is outdated and often meaningless now.
Key Takeaway
Recognize outdated structures and seek meaningful reforms.
Themes
politics
democracy
institutional decay
reform
critical analysis
Mood
critical
concerned
reflective
Type
analysis
commentary
When to use this quote
- voting reforms
- civic education
- policy analysis
- public debate
Key Concepts
electoral design
institutional legitimacy
public policy
historical context
Questions to Reflect On
- Which parts of the system still serve the public good?
- How can we balance tradition with necessary reform?
A Different Perspective
The system still functions in some ways, so change may be resisted.