1、 Problem posing

The political system crisis faced by the United States in the 21st century was discussed, and it was pointed out that the US political system is difficult to effectively respond to new social and economic changes, leading to a decline in institutional functions, insufficient response capabilities, and decreased governance performance. Scholars have analyzed the internal reasons of the political system itself and the external incentives for new social and economic changes, and believe that the interaction between the political system and the social economy is the fundamental reason for the occurrence of crises. American scholar Adam Powalski and domestic scholar Wang Shikai analyzed the root causes of the crisis from the perspectives of the difficulties in constitutional reform and the decline in political system capacity. Scholars generally believe that to overcome crises, it is necessary to improve political system deficiencies and enhance national governance capabilities. Huntington's theory of political development provides a national centric research perspective for understanding the crisis of the American political system. This article will analyze the logic of the crisis of the American political system from two dimensions: social forces and political system.

2、 The combination of modernity and tradition: characteristics of the American political system

Huntington analyzed the nature of the American state and society through comparative political science methods, pointing out that the American political system combines Tudor style old institutions with modern popular participation. The decentralization of political authority in the United States, horizontally dispersed to legislative, executive, and judicial institutions, and vertically dispersed to federal, state, and county governments, has led to a decline in governance capacity and a lack of national identity. The lack of differentiation in the political structure of the United States, coupled with a system of checks and balances, has led to low government efficiency and insufficient professionalization. In terms of the modernization of political participation, the American society popularized the right to vote, expanded political participation to maintain a new society and opposed the moral concept of power, reflecting Americans' belief in freedom, equality, democracy and individualism.

3、 Maintaining modernity and tradition: the root cause of the crisis in the American political system

Huntington proposed in comparative political science that political development is independent of the modernization process, and social modernization does not directly lead to political modernization. He proposed the 'theory of political change', which views the political system as a collection of different components that vary in speed, scope, and direction of change. There are differences in the speed, scope, and direction of change between modern American society and traditional political systems, forming a mutually supportive relationship. Among them, socio-economic modernization hinders the development of political modernization, limits the development path of political modernization, and maintains the old system of decentralized authority and mixed functions.

4、 The manifestations and trends of the crisis in the US political system

Huntington conducted an in-depth analysis of the root causes of the crisis in the American political system, believing that internal changes in American society and external environment pose challenges to the political system. He emphasized that political institutions need to maintain openness to social forces to maintain stability and continuity. Huntington explored the impact of American liberal ideology on the military career system in Soldiers and the Nation, arguing that the liberal hostility in American society limited the structural separation and professionalization of the military system. He hopes that the ideology of American society will shift towards conservatism to support military authority and specialization. Huntington believes that the real enemy of the American political system is the Americans themselves and their affinity for Marxism, and advocates that Americans should support the existing system, exercise restraint, and shift from liberalism to conservatism. He pointed out that the political system in the United States is already liberal, popular, and democratic, but American liberals have always been idealistic, promoting the country to become increasingly free, equal, and democratic. Huntington asserted that the enemies of the American political system did not come from outside, but from the Americans themselves. He stressed that in the face of the threat of the Soviet Union and communism, what Americans need is not to create more liberal systems, but to support the existing systems. Huntington pointed out in Who is the American? That the United States is a country with Anglo Saxon as its main body, Christian Protestantism as its cultural tradition, and liberal democracy as its political system. American creed is not only the political ideal of Americans, but also the source of national identity and national identity, but also limits the authority of the American government and the formation of national ideas. He emphasized that the political system of the United States is not only the fundamental carrier of the American creed, but also the ultimate direction of the American national spirit and national community. Huntington's works on American politics are filled with tension between social forces and political systems, which is manifested in terms of "threat," "crisis," "danger," "challenge," "chaos," "imbalance," "disharmony," "conflict," and "decline." His proposed strategies include "order," "balance," "security," "revival," "reconstruction," "revitalization," and "strategy. Scholar Ou Shujun believes that there are two threads running through Huntington's academic career over the past thirty years: one is the relationship between the legitimacy and effectiveness of the state, and the other is the relationship between democratic construction and state building. Compared to this article, if the organization, efficiency, and stability contained in national effectiveness are the exploration themes that Huntington pursued tirelessly, isn't this exactly what the political order in the United States lacks? If the consensus, community, and identity contained in national legitimacy are another theme that runs through Huntington's research, isn't this the challenge that a strong new society brings to a weak old state? Although many scholars have also seen the development trend of "strong government" in the United States, at the same time, the trend of "increasingly new" American society is accompanying the trend of "strong government" in the United States. This is mainly reflected in the increasing social demands, more open social boundaries, more diverse social members, and newer social values. Even though the political system in the United States is moving towards centralization, expansion, and specialization, it still faces ongoing challenges from the "increasingly new" American society. The conflict between modern society and traditional political systems has continuously led to phenomena such as "political decline," "institutional failure," "political polarization," and "democratic crisis" in the United States.

5、 Conclusion

The modernization of the social economy promotes the modernization of the political system, but the modernization of the political system in the United States lags behind the modernization of the social economy, leading to a crisis in the political system. The characteristic of the American political system is the combination of traditional political system and modern political participation, which leads to insufficient government governance capacity, lack of national identity, low level of specialization and efficiency. The modernization of American society and economy maintains and strengthens the old tradition of political system, but the inherent limitations of social modernization limit the development path of traditional political modernization. There is a dialectical inverse relationship between the modernization of the political system and social modernization in the United States, and social modernization hinders the development of traditional political modernization. Although the US government has tended towards a "strong government" since the 20th century, the increasing social demands, open borders, diverse members, and updated values have been accompanied by a trend of "increasingly new" society, posing a continuous challenge to the "strong government".