Hardball partisan lawmaking: Is it a threat to democracy?

North Carolina is locked in a battle over its political heart and soul. “It’s not just Democrats versus Republicans. It’s small ‘d’ democrats versus nondemocrats,” says a political scientist. “It’s bigger than party labels. It’s about the rules of the game.”

Deb Butler yelled it over and over again, her jaw set as though in stone: “Mr. Speaker, we will not yield!”

Standing in a near-empty legislative chamber at 16 Jones Street in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ms. Butler, a Democratic legislator, rose in rage after watching Republicans taking advantage of...