Something I think about a lot is how Americans suffer from a democracy deficit. The evisceration of civil society, unions and the welfare state by neoliberalism cripples social solidarity. But, we also can’t disagree well because we don’t have an underlying sense of belonging.
The evisceration of the unions put the last nail in the coffin of US democracy. The 2 parties formerly were controlled by different interests. The GOP were corporate & the Dems were union... But Clinton & co. shipped so many jobs abroad that now corporations own both parties.