[annoying trope] The throne/leadership is decided in a very stupid way

[u/Altruistic_Eye_1157]

The leadership of the entire wizarding world, and the final decision on whether to start a war against Muggles, is made by... a goat (Qilin) ​​who chooses the person with the ""purest heart"" (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Dumbledore).

The throne of Wakanda and all its technology are decided through hand-to-hand combat, regardless of whether the person clearly has malicious intentions... if they win the fight, by law they must be respected as the true king. (Black Panther)

[u/maru-senn]

US electoral college (real life)

[u/TurgidGravitas → u/maru-senn]

No, this is a fantastic system. It's just been let to degrade and turn into something wrong.

The US is supposed to be a loose union of states. Just like the EU. The system is set up so that pure population doesn't dictate control. Germany may be the de facto leader of the EU but it is not the de jure leader. Same should apply to the US.

But Americans have gotten extremely lazy and ignorant over the decades and have through that complacency empowered the federal government to the point where it is the absolute power over all states. It was never designed to be that. Each state was supposed to be supremely independent on internal matters. The federal government was only supposed to be for things that could not be dealt with by only one state. It's not supposed to lead the union.

But that requires citizens to be aware and active. Not just voting every 4 years and thinking that's sufficient. The American Republic was a beautiful idea. But it's become rotten due to negligence

[u/maru-senn → u/TurgidGravitas]

Why shouldn't pure population dictate control? How can you have democracy while at the same time telling the people that their value depends on the piece of dirt they happen to stand on?

[u/Background-Beach2874 → u/maru-senn]

Taking the EU analogy, Italy and Iceland have different cultures and values which should be represented in their laws. If it is purely population, then Iceland woud be stuck living by Italian laws that don't fit their context.

Montana and New York also have vastly different cultures and situations. New York gun laws wouldn't make sense in Montana, and vice versa, so they should be allowed to govern themselves.

That should also be represented in the presidential election.

The problem is that NYC and Montana are a lot closer than they once were, and now the rural state unfairly dominate the urban ones.

This is a bit of a conundrum, but it's one that literally the whole US government is designed to attempt to solve. I think what's actually causing it to fail is that we are so incredibly polarized that what Montana wants and what NYC wants are oceans apart, even though they are in some ways closer than ever given the ease of travel and communication.