Undercurrent Events

Undercurrent Events

Home
The Doom Loop
Deep Forces
Political Illusions
Proportional Representation
Gerrymandering
Congress
Fusion Voting
Archive
About

The Doom Loop

The next era could come sooner than you think
This Thanksgiving, let's be thankful for the possibility of renewal
 • Lee Drutman and Grant Tudor
How fusion voting builds the new parties that can break the two-party doom loop
Some reforms just rearrange the gridlock. This one unlocks the pieces that matter.
 • Lee Drutman
Politics Keeps Driving Out the People Who Want to Reform It
Jared Golden is the latest problem-solving politician to decide Congress isn’t worth the cost. And so the doom loop takes another turn.
 • Lee Drutman
The moderation debate fiddles with 2% while democracy’s dimensionality collapses
Presidential vote now determines 98% of House outcomes. One-dimensional partisan conflict is authoritarian-friendly territory. Could fusion voting…
 • Lee Drutman
We are Still Living in the Doom Loop
And it will almost certainly continue to get worse before it gets better.
 • Lee Drutman
So you want to start a new political party that “actually represents the 80% in the middle”? Good luck.
An open letter to Elon Musk
 • Lee Drutman
Doomier and Loopier: Why our two-party system will not – and cannot - self-correct on its own.
We need major electoral reform and we need it now. A party system problem demands a party system solution.
 • Lee Drutman
The state of our democracy is cracking and evaporating
A guide to the thermodynamics of our constitutional crisis. And how to phase change out of it.
 • Lee Drutman
How did American democracy become a broken game without winners? And what should we do about it?
Support for democracy in America has fallen to alarming lows, even as voters desperately seek change. Proportional representation could re-energize our…
 • Lee Drutman
Perfectly Balanced, Totally Unstable
The dangerous strangeness of our perennially too-close-for-comfort elections
 • Lee Drutman
Are We Losing Our Democracy? Or Are We Losing Our Minds? Or Both?
Is America Really in Crisis, or Are Our Brains Just Wired to Think So? Yes.
 • Lee Drutman
The Paradoxical Reason Republicans Win Elections Despite Unpopular Policies
Plus, exciting news from New Jersey
 • Lee Drutman
© 2026 Lee Drutman · Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start your SubstackGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture