Last week's election in America shows, once again, that there are serious problems with democracy in the USA.

Aside from the well known issues with the Electoral College, where the winner of the popular vote often does not win the election (which, for a change, did not happen this time), there are problems including:

1. Despite the majority of voters being in favour re-legalising abortion, the party that would have done so (the Democrats) did not win.
2. Although the majority of voters are in favour of higher taxes for the super-rich (individuals and corporations), the win by Trump will mean even more tax reductions for the people who don't need them and higher taxes for low and middle income citizens.
3. Expert opinion is that the Republican plans for mass deportations and stricter immigration controls will cripple the US economy, but the election results will ensure that these policies will happen, and US citizens will suffer as a result.
4. History and expert analysis shows that Trump's plans to impose hefty tariffs on imports from China (and elsewhere) will cause huge rises in the cost of living in America, but that now seems to be guaranteed.

There are several causes for the bizarre outcomes of US elections, such as:

• The "first past the post" electoral system. There is effectively a choice of two parties, so one's vote cannot possibly represent one's preference on a multitude of policies. A system of proportional representation would go some way to capturing voters' real preferences, but the only sure way to ensure real democratic choice is to have referenda on each and every important issue, as they do in Switzerland.
• The outrageous and enormous influence of money on elections and government policy in the USA. Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats are going to bite the hand that feeds them by fairly distributing the tax burden by making the super rich pay their share, nor are either party going to adequately punish big corporations for the damage they cause to the environment and the health of US citizens, and the damage they cause to the economy.
• Democracy can only work when voters have complete and accurate information about the impacts of their voting choices, but there is an epidemic of disinformation in the USA nowadays. The media, and subject matter experts, have a duty to fact check statements by politicians, and this duty is not currently being properly fulfilled.

These problems are not unique to the USA. Many countries still have "first past the post" electoral systems, and the system of referenda is virtually unique to Switzerland. Disinformation is rife around the world, and is one of the reasons that the UK voted, against all common sense, for Brexit. Corporate donations are skewing elections and policy implementation in all democracies, as big companies continue to learn the influence that their money can buy. The very nature of news media has been changed forever by the Internet, with professional journalists now a dying breed as news consumers have come to expect their news to be free, and as social media displaces traditional news sources for most people. Subject matter experts now have less sway with the public, as conspiracy theories abound.

Americans are very proud of their constitution, and rightly so, with all the rights and freedoms that it guarantees, but it is starting to look like that constitution is now more of a problem than a solution. Maybe it is time for it to be updated to give US democracy a chance to work.