The French have more of a social safety net, which enables extended protests. I understand the irony in stating this (well then, USian, get off your ass and demand a social safety net), but the chicken-and-egg problem is real. This is setting aside cultural mores and biases; for an example thereof, see sibling comment.

It is one reason, but certainly not the only one.

The Citizens United decision virtually ensures that the average voter, even in aggregate, has nothing important to say. Shortly, one particular U.S. citizen will have a net worth of $1T; and this, more than anything will ensure that “We the People” are only noise, compared to the real signal.

> Get off your arse and take lessons on protesting from the French.

Sir, I'm fleeing this country. The time to protest was 30 years ago. Or 70 years ago. Either way, it is well in the past. This country will need to crash and detox from its addiction to money before it can become a real democracy.

That is a problem, but the larger problem is people don't have an informed vote. They vote for a party straight down without considering what they really support, or what the unintended consequences of those things are.

Social unrest is not usually a hallmark of a functioning society.

The representative system in the US is all but dead when it comes to high-power politics, this second Trump presidency has vigorously shown that. They weren't of that much use before, also, apart from blocking a few essential things here and there. They're also not at the Caligula's horse in the Senate moment, but they're rapidly going that way.