I dont know when to pinpoint the exact death of our representative government but what matters is the future. Neither democrats or republicans give a damn about the country, its just a game of power and money to them. I think its time we stop blaming the politicians and start blaming the people who keep voting these yahoos into office. Congress has an approval rating in the teens but a majority of incumbents will be reelected. The Republicrats have a monopoly on our political system and they use that power to prevent anyone who would disrupt that from gaining any meaningful power.
We now have a government that does not care about your rights. They are just obsticals to their objectives. They appoint the judges who are supposed to be the checks to their power. What happened to "Give me liberty or give me death"? We need to realize we dont live in a free society anymore. Free societies dont lead the world in documented incarceration rates. Free societies dont shut down lemonade stands of little kids and dont arrest people for feeding the homeless. 86% of the prison population have committed victimless crimes. Congress has made virtually every US citizen a criminal by making nearly everything illegal. You are more likely to be shot by a cop than you are to be killed by a terrorist in this country.