Jonathan Freedland has got his argument the wrong way around (US democracy in crisis. But Trump is only the symptom, 10 November). The structure of the US constitution hasn’t changed, nor has the electoral system. The population disparity between the large and small states may be larger but was always there. Had Clinton’s campaign team understood the electoral college rules, she could have won. But Trump won. That is not a crisis of US democracy but of the Democratic party. Between 1945 and 2012 an equal number of Democrats and Republicans have been president. The two houses of Congress have changed hands with regularity. The supreme court has always been chosen on a partisan basis. It is only that Freedland does not like Trump. That is not a crisis of US democracy but his.

Meghnad Desai

Labour, House of Lords

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