"To my mind, the drastic recent lurch toward supermajority requirements for everything is deeply destructive, no matter which party is exerting this minority-blocking role. It's destructive for reasons presaged by California's drift into paralysis-by-supermajority, in which a changing assortment of special-interest groups can prevent almost anything from happening. It's this structural change that puts the 'dangerous' into all the standard talk about 'dangerous polarization' of our politics.
"But even if you disagree, you should acknowledge that what has happened these past few years is a change, and a big one, from the previous two centuries of American practice. The fact that I'm vaguely embarrassed to be posting 'yet another item' on this theme illustrates a problem: We all crave novelty, and there is nothing novel in pointing out what is happening to our government. But the things that matter are not always brand new sparkling ones, and this is an illustration."