Interesting, especially the turnout figures. Apathy is a bitch.
(But damn I wish substack didn't disable pinch-to-zoom. I tried to give feedback, but their customer service chatbot wasn't sympathetic.)
esseph · 2h ago
If you single tap on android it opens it with the three dots in the top right (which gives you the download option). Also after you tap once, you can pinch to zoom.
dreamcompiler · 5h ago
I didn't even notice substack was being an ass because I've told my browser (Brave) to Force Enable Zoom.
vouaobrasil · 5h ago
I really don't understand how countries like the USA can be even considered a democracy, when the only choice is swinging between two parties that only really make headway on a small handful of issues. The same goes for a lot of countries with a similar system. Over time, parts of the system get locked into a certain path through manipulation and then people vote between a small subset of two issues.
It's much more like an oligarchy with a sprinkle of democracy thrown in, rather than true representative leadership.
linguae · 1h ago
I wholeheartedly agree. To make matters worse, the “culture wars” have led to a situation where many voters for one party would never consider voting for members of the opposite party due to where the fall on cultural matters such as abortion, LGBT+ issues, race relations, etc. Someone’s position on abortion is far more predictive of political party than one’s positions regarding how the national debt should be dealt with. It’s easier for people to compromise on non-cultural matters.
Unfortunately, one effect of this is that people are “locked into” one party. The party then could take its voters for granted. “What are you going to do, vote Democratic/Republican?” is the attitude, which breeds apathy, which creates conditions that are ripe for bad actors to exploit.
I wish there were more choices, where conservatives have options beyond MAGA and where liberals and progressives have choices. I also wish there were a wider spectrum beyond liberal/conservative. Unfortunately the current system is such that the two main parties are entrenched, with third parties being massively disadvantaged.
I wish I had solutions. All I know is 2026 is coming fast, and we better be prepared.
elcritch · 1h ago
The system does generally push towards a duopoly. Still there's more influence of voters inside the parties at the local levels than it seems at first. Many important issues are handled at the state level. There's more variation of the parties beliefs as well at that level. A Wyoming Republican can have fairly different views and priorities from a South Carolina Republican. Side note, personally I believe that the growth of the scope of the federal government reduces representation significantly.
A big difference with China or Russia's one party systems is that the presidential candidates are chosen in primaries, which can have a large effect. Both Obama and Trump were relative outsiders who were able to win their parties primaries without being heads of their parties.
To me the USA's executive branch system allows more choice in representative leadership than parliamentary systems where the parties choose the prime minister.
jltsiren · 1h ago
There are different kinds of parliamentary systems. In some, the prime minister is a big important leader, almost like a president in a presidential system. In others, they are just another interchangeable cog in the machine.
Here in Finland, it's rare that a prime minister manages to serve the full four-year term. Usually there are enough controversies and scandals that they eventually have to resign. But the government coalition just keeps going on, implementing the same policies as before, as the leader is ultimately not that important.
elcritch · 1h ago
> Total Wealth Gains of Forbes 400 by Presidential Administration The Forbes 400 total wealth grew considerably more during Democratic administrations (+57.1%) compared to Republican administrations (+16.5%)
Wow, the last jump of the wealth of the Forbes 400 by 64% under Biden is insane. I'm guessing largely due to covid-19. Oddly under Trumps first term the Forbes 400 went up and then decreased a fair bit to end up at only 15% growth overall.
bix6 · 7h ago
So if Dems show up for the midterms there’s a chance!
The Supreme Court vs lower courts is wild.
dmwood · 7h ago
Phenomenal. Just wish I knew if this was under a CC license.
djokkataja · 6h ago
It doesn't explicitly mention a license, but it has this right underneath "Overview of the Insights" near the top:
> A quick note: All of the data visualizations in this roundup are free to use as common content. You are welcome to share and republish them.
hobs · 7h ago
Very interesting, this was just dead a moment ago, but the charting and data viz seems great!
(But damn I wish substack didn't disable pinch-to-zoom. I tried to give feedback, but their customer service chatbot wasn't sympathetic.)
It's much more like an oligarchy with a sprinkle of democracy thrown in, rather than true representative leadership.
Unfortunately, one effect of this is that people are “locked into” one party. The party then could take its voters for granted. “What are you going to do, vote Democratic/Republican?” is the attitude, which breeds apathy, which creates conditions that are ripe for bad actors to exploit.
I wish there were more choices, where conservatives have options beyond MAGA and where liberals and progressives have choices. I also wish there were a wider spectrum beyond liberal/conservative. Unfortunately the current system is such that the two main parties are entrenched, with third parties being massively disadvantaged.
I wish I had solutions. All I know is 2026 is coming fast, and we better be prepared.
A big difference with China or Russia's one party systems is that the presidential candidates are chosen in primaries, which can have a large effect. Both Obama and Trump were relative outsiders who were able to win their parties primaries without being heads of their parties.
To me the USA's executive branch system allows more choice in representative leadership than parliamentary systems where the parties choose the prime minister.
Here in Finland, it's rare that a prime minister manages to serve the full four-year term. Usually there are enough controversies and scandals that they eventually have to resign. But the government coalition just keeps going on, implementing the same policies as before, as the leader is ultimately not that important.
Wow, the last jump of the wealth of the Forbes 400 by 64% under Biden is insane. I'm guessing largely due to covid-19. Oddly under Trumps first term the Forbes 400 went up and then decreased a fair bit to end up at only 15% growth overall.
The Supreme Court vs lower courts is wild.
> A quick note: All of the data visualizations in this roundup are free to use as common content. You are welcome to share and republish them.