# Redesigning the United States Government from the ground up - What would a "sensible" government structure look like for America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 4, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redesigning-the-united-states-government-from-the-ground-up-what-would-a-sensible-government-structure-look-like-for-america/1005234 "2024-08-04T15:03:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 54
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2024, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redesigning-the-united-states-government-from-the-ground-up-what-would-a-sensible-government-structure-look-like-for-america/1005234/54 "2024-08-06T04:18:47Z")
See Professor Juan Linz’s article, “The Perils of Presidentialism”. He was a poli-sci prof coming to issues with a Hispanic political viewpoint, rather than the traditional Anglo-American viewpoint. He pointed out that all of the presidential-congressional systems in the western hemisphere, except the US, had fallen to authoritarianism and dictatorship, and attributed that pattern to the rigid separation of powers in presidential-congressional systems. He argued that the parliamentary system is better at diffusing executive power (a cabinet collectivity rather than a unitary executive), and also better at allowing more dissentient voices in the legislature. He also argued that what had kept the US from falling that way was the strong commitment to bipartisanship. If that failed, he predicted the US would join the other presidential-congressional systems in authoritarianism. It was a chilling read, in light of political tendencies in the US over the past two decades. Earlier thread on that topic: > [@What is the second-oldest presidential/congressional republic?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-second-oldest-presidential-congressional-republic/707357): > > The United States is the oldest presidential/congressional republic in the world, dating to 1788, when the Constitution was ratified. (Not necessarily the oldest republic; San Marino claims that title, and Switzerland is also in the running). So what is the second-oldest presidential/congressional republic in the world? I’m interested in a presidential/congressional republic, similar in constitutional structure to the US, which has had an uninterrupted run to the present day since its const… --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redesigning-the-united-states-government-from-the-ground-up-what-would-a-sensible-government-structure-look-like-for-america/1005234)._