Our political system is broken.This is a recurring theme in the realms of political columnists and the blogosphere. The Democratic Party has been utterly stymied on health care reform (at least for now) despite overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress, and even minute appointments and bureaucratic matters have been stalled by a filibuster-happy GOP.Compromise is a dirty word in the modern political environment. Our representatives stick to their partisan ideological guns. The establishment party tries to ram home their agenda without dissent or discussion, while the minority is content to snipe — to earn political points and paint the opposition poorly without a thought to actually achieving anything.The discussion on how to fix these problems is dizzyingly vast and complicated. But a common theme is on specific institutional changes that might alleviate some of the partisan gridlock.First and most ubiquitous is the argument about the filibuster. This procedural tactic, which allows minority senators to significantly delay the passage of legislation, is made to be the gaping hole causing our Titantic of politics to sink. And to some extent it is.But the filibuster does have a purpose — without it, the majority could run roughshod over the minority, and hasty, ideologically-charged legislation would be easier to get away with. And it’s only a small piece of the problem.Does that mean the filibuster doesn’t need reform? Of course not. In its current incarnation, the process is an easy way to bring the entire democratic process to a screeching halt. So some limitations on when and how often it can be employed are probably a good idea.But, again, fixing the filibuster can only go so far. Other institutional changes need to happen, and they need to happen quickly.For example, gerrymandering — the reprehensible practice of redrawing districts to ensure re-election — has created an ideologically polarized representative body unrepresentative of the real American political identity. Because representatives have gerrymandered their districts so heavily, they speak only for a small, skewed public — and thus are only accountable to that small, skewed public’s issues and positions.There’s also the issue of political party power. Party leaders are able to strong-arm representatives into voting their way by determining who gets appointments to what committees and by threatening punitive actions on any legislator that defies their authority. This means that, even though some more moderate individual members of one party may support legislation, they can be quickly and ruthlessly silenced by their party if the leadership thinks it necessary — for any reason.But, for all the problems with the operational architecture of our government, there’s a bigger issue at stake here — and it’s one not easily rectified by an amendment or systemic tweak.In the final analysis, we can blame the tortured mechanics of government for the constipation of our body politic, and we can call for all kind of institutional laxatives to relieve it. But these measures are just combating the symptoms of a larger disease unless we, as a collective society don’t start eating better — don’t start holding our legislators accountable for their sloth and abuses of power.As long as the loudest citizen voices are the most bitterly, blindly partisan, our government will reflect that sentiment. As long as voters take the drivel fed them by personalities disguised as journalists, our government will accept those facts as well. And as long as our voters are too cynical or apathetic to learn about what issues matter, why they matter and who’s preventing them from being resolved, well, our government will continue to be fundamentally broken.Matthew Albright is a 21-year old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter @TDR_malbright.– – – -Contact Matthew Albright at [email protected]