A lot of people claim that large continental empires are inherently predisposed to autocracy. Nowhere would that be more true than in the American Empire, where the large geographic, ethnic, religious and cultural gap between the population centers enforces a sense of regionalism that often surpasses loyalty to Pennsylvania. A democratic America, as seen in the first government, known as the "United States of America", was paralysed by infighting over minor disputes, being unable to stop the multiple rebellions by slaves and New Englanders until the monarchist coup, which was shortly followed by a period of competing military councils until Emperor Jackson finally united the country.
As we see yet another round of race riots across America, I ponder the question: could the United States have survived and remained united if it remained a democratic nation?
Personally, I believe the south only joined the United States during the Anti-British War to separate from Britain, and later it attempted to leave when it felt Pennsylvania's jurisdiction and economic controls were growing too strict, and the north had no interest in being attached to what it viewed as a bunch of illiterate farmers and cruel slaveowners. If they had allowed free elections, then we could easily see the states separate into regional groups, like Spanish America had.