Two-thirds of southern Republicans want their states to secede from the union

Democratic support for constitutional "hardball" is a signal of broader democratic distress

Democracy needs democrats and republics need republicans; self-government can only survive if the people have faith in the outputs and outcomes of their systems of representation. You can think of the people as a set of atoms, bound together by the electromagnetic forces of their electoral laws and institutions. That force is faith in each other to make rational collective decisions and agree to minority rule when we have unpopular beliefs. How worried should we be about that force weakening to the point of collapse? About the glue, so to speak, losing its binding quality?

We know almost intrinsically that something is wrong in America. Polls can help us assess the level of mass disenchantment in the public more precisely. A new survey of voters (and some experts) by the folks at Bright Line Watch, a group of political scientists that “monitor democratic practices, their resilience, and potential threats”, contains several reasons to fret.

Take the shocking but not-so-surprising findin…