I want to plug this comment because it's on to something I've maintained in my own discussions on US politics:

"A common factor is dysfunctional legislatures/parliaments"

Yes. In the USA Congress is by far the most stuck on stupid federal branch. Fixing it by having a bombastic moron in the wrong branch (Trump) didn't help. It was an attempt to fill a power vacuum of congressional leaders that don't who have no institutional credibility because there is no leadership credibility.

All the serious unresolved domestic problems:

- debt

- gun laws

- federal legislation on abortion

- tax fairness

- border control and coherent immigration policy

- lack of prohibitions on various forms of lobbying and trading

- rollback of dod frank and some other regulations which may need fixing

Are all about Congress.

Like a sick company where the employees and management whine and complain about the other while customers are irked, there's presently no statesman (states woman) to moderate.

In this power vacuum the extreme right morw so and extreme left less so are in the ascendancy.

The recenr departure from a more normal legislative branch is newt gringrich during Clinton