On the precipice of a new administration, America faces no shortage of quite tangible, all-too-real problems. This is without even considering the toll of the pandemic and all the ways it has altered American life.

The federal deficit skyrockets, even in good times. These numbers will only compound with a full decade of baby boomers still to retire and impose their escalating costs on Social Security and Medicare. An ever-widening disparity between how much government the country wants and what it is willing to pay for puts ever-darker red numbers on the national balance sheet as far as the eye can see.

The divide between those thriving and those far larger masses struggling in contemporary America continues to widen. Entrenched poverty, whether in urban plain-sight or more hidden in rural parts, seems immutable. Institution after institution underperforms. Heck, we no longer count on the Postal Service to deliver a routine envelope in anything close to a timely manner.

Every reader can list at least a dozen specific issues high on their own agenda. From ever-rising health costs to crumbling infrastructure, burning forests, the fine balance of appropriate policing, the epidemic of opioids, the whittling away of free speech, ad infinitum.

Overlaid on all of this is the never-ending, never-abating political toxicity and the split of the country into two super-animated camps long on their own righteousness while short on any goodwill.

Among the intelligentsia, one school of thought holds that Joe Biden, upon taking office, should deploy his political capital to go after a highly specific agenda, clearly topped by the distribution of the vaccine and anything up his sleeve to jumpstart the economy.

Another school of thought, to which this commentator subscribes, is that a political reform package should be high on the presidential agenda. The systemic dysfunction that has wracked America for too many years layered atop the poisonous, unyielding divide makes this essential. The status quo and the trend lines are simply not sustainable.

In the aftermath of four years of Donald Trump, one thing that unites his adamant base and his harshest critics is the need to drain the swamp. Even if the two sides have no agreement as to the inhabitants of the bog.

The contention here has long been that the major issues facing America are only solvable if we first recreate a viable, functioning political system. In this case, the horse has to come before the cart.

Certainly, there can be plenty of debate as to the contents of such a reform package. It can’t be a partisan endeavor.

Start with redistricting. Get the foxes away from the henhouse. Time will tell whether Colorado’s new model is the optimal one. But, clearly, allowing representatives such a heavy and nakedly self-serving interest in choosing their voters (when the opposite was intended) is fundamentally anti-democratic.

Shut down the revolving door whereby senators and representatives, along with high administration officials, find lucrative employment in the lobbying or government contracting or Washington “public affairs” realm immediately upon leaving office. Underscore the service in “public service.”

Recognize that voting-by-mail is here to stay even long after the pandemic is history. As Colorado has demonstrated for a decade, it can work securely and reliably, with ultimate user-friendliness. With the 2020 election in the rear-view mirror, it is time to put in place national standards so this method of casting a ballot is as widely accepted and trustworthy as any other means.

Court-packing is not the answer and the very notion of it is politically dead on arrival. Nonetheless, the current structure of the Supreme Court need not be set in stone. Sincere, bipartisan ideas should be engaged to provide for more regular, predictable turnover and to make each nomination something less than an apocalyptic battle.

If the federal government provided the right of initiative, congressional term limits long ago would have been the law of the land. Imagine the Nixon-goes-to-China sight of Joe Biden, soon to enter his sixth Washington decade, championing this cause. Also, imagine how it could unite Tea Party Republicans with Bernie Democrats, both determined to shake up a hidebound system.

The issue that dwarfs all others is that of money and the extreme quantities of it that lubricate and soil our politics. I will be the first to acknowledge that I don’t have the answer to this conundrum. Many proposed remedies run headlong into that minor impediment known as the First Amendment. Beyond that, many supposed fixes over many years have served to worsen the problem by limiting monies that can go to campaigns directly through the front door with full disclosure only to divert them around to the back door without transparency.

Still, it is a seriously ailing and corrupt system that effectively anoints a Las Vegas casino magnate as the Republican gatekeeper and a billionaire former New York City mayor as his Democratic counterpart. The debate as to whether America is a democracy or a republic is becoming moot as our politics increasingly look like those of an oligarchy.

Lastly, just as Watergate spurred an area of reform, the Trump years should prod another. Why not require the IRS to release 10 years of tax returns of any presidential candidate? How about reinforcing the practice of departmental oversight by giving inspectors general job protection? What about mandating a rigorous review process for any presidential pardons post-election? Perhaps a statutory refresh is called for to prohibit any president from using the White House or any federal property as a campaign prop.

Reinvigorating our political process is a necessary precondition to renewing the country and addressing its myriad challenges. We will not fix the wealth divide without healing the political divide. Nor will we make progress on climate change until we repair the political climate.

Even a viral vaccine will not fully get the country back on track without a heavy dose of political reform. Seize the moment, Mr. President-elect.