Vashta.."a downward spiral of the American political society." may only be one of many eddies in a larger current. I'm not sure that this is any worse than the mid-60s when the Dixiecrats reversed the party names and ideologies.... or any worse than the hateful mess of 'reconstruction' after the Civil War.
   There are many problems today, but we simply cannot lump both major parties and all the minor ones into the same clogged pile of &#$%*.
They are not simple mirror images of one another... they function on different levels with different goals and different methods. It is useless to chant "Throw them all out! Term limits!" Any serious change will require working from within... from various angles... to create a genuine concern for some sort of Utilitarian view that allows **fair** treatment for everyone... rich AND poor. Right now we have the Golden Rule... "He who has the gold makes the rules.