Gridlock Is Good: It's When Government Functions That We Get In Trouble

SEE HERE The founders didn't divide the government into three equal parts with separation of powers and the ability to throw monkey wrenches into the various parts so that government could function smoothly. They had a lot of experience with smoothly functioning government and knew that it was almost always a recipe for tyranny so they intentionally designed a government that would have to have a very high degree of agreement among the parts to function, hence a real consensus. When the government doesn't function the people are safe. Mark Twain opined that "No man's life, liberty, or property is safe while Congress is in session." He'd have plenty of agreement these days.