How do politicians in the US have us tied down to 2 political parties that barely represent the views of any?

Question

of us?

So many good points....VOTE!!!

Answer 1

Because those two parties are the majority. There are those who amke stands, like teh gang of 14, and look along the lines of what is best for america and not for the party. unfortunately though, parties are self serving and so are the members, so they dow aht is best for thier organisation and ultimately for themselves.

Answer 2

The structure of our elections and government branches generally limit our options to two candidates.

Basically, in the US, there can be only one "winner" in an election. We vote to fill individual vacancies in our elected branches, and not for the composition of the elected branch as a whole. This makes it less strategic to have small parties.

For example, say there is a Congressional seat open.

- 40% of the public favors an anti-gun control, anti-welfare candidate.
- 35% favor a candidate who supports moderate gun control and limited welfare spending
- 25% favor a candidate who wants to ban firearms and who believes in a full-blown welfare state

Now, the moderate 35% could vote for the perfect candidate, one who believes in some gun control and a few programs to help the poor. The same could be done by the 25% who want the more extreme candidate. But if they BOTH vote this way, neither group will get thw worst outcome (for them), since there is only one Congressional seat open and the 40% anti-gun control candidate will beat both of their two candidates.

So, the two groups have to come together on a candidate that gives them SOME of what they want. In this case, the 25% who want a gun-banning Congressperson will probably have to settle for one who merely wants to register guns. And the moderates may have to settle for someone who wants a lot more welfare spending than they think is necessary. Both sides have to make these sacrifices, or accept a Congressperson who will not allow any gun control.

In some countries, elections don't work this way. Each party runs for the whole legislature, instead of putting up individual candidates in elections for each seat. In these countries, a party that only has 5% support would get 5% of legislative seats. In the US, that party wouldn't win a single election and would never be represented.

Answer 3

Most of the problem with establishing viable third parties is at the state level, though this is due to the mutual cooperation of the Dems and Repubs. In most states a 3rd party candidate can't participate in primaries and may not be shown on the ballot under their party name. Some states have outlandishly high petition signatures required for another party to even be listed on the ballot. Then, if they don't win, they may have to do a petition again. Of course, the two other parties never have to do this.

Answer 4

I don't believe they will for much longer (in a historical sense). We've seen a couple of charisma-based breakouts in Jesse Ventura and Ross Perot that showed how desperate the public is for another choice. The "Jesse Factor" that everyone tried to figure out was very simple. In the debates, he actually answered the question that was asked! And he didn't run his campaign by the polls. He said what he actually felt. There was a kind of barstool common sense to his approach and it resonated with a lot of people. Someone, eventually, will break through and build a third viable party or replace one of the current two based on the hunger of the people for those characteristics.

Answer 5

The electoral college system keeps serious third parties out of the elections. To a certain degree, this is a good thing. But, it's limiting. There are ways we can successfully allow 3rd parties to enter the playing field w/out letting current parties split too much or going to a plain old democracy.

Answer 6

I have no idea, but this is the best point I've heard made here EVER! Neither party represents the view of any sane person.

Answer 7

They rewrote the laws and that increased the amount of money needed to be real candidate to the extreme. They've corkscrewed all voting districts with jerrymandering to make it much more difficult for the little guy to run. They use outside groups to smear and sling mud on any opponent that makes a chalenge to them. This goes outside thier campaign funding and gives them an unfair advantage. This is flim flamming at the highest level of the art.

THE FLIM FLAM MEN :

They make speeches about they must have taxes, and every politician knows what is being done in Alaska. Alaska Pays all their residents with earth rights and doesn’t tax their residents. This makes the politicians liars!

They make speeches to get elected and make promises about what they will do for us. They say nothing about getting every dime of lobby money to do what big biz wants that’s opposite what they promised you they would do. That makes them cheats!

They stole your grandmother’s retirement money from SS. Now you face getting nothing for your SS payments. That makes them thieves!

They tax us, but they know the foreign companies pay no taxes on the goods they sell here. The goods are sold then bought on paper in a foreign port to skate the tax laws. Thus eliminating their profit on paper to cheat the US out of the taxes they owe. This makes them backstabbers!

They take lobby money to put earmarks and pork in every law that passes their desk. Then they do photo ops, a news clips to promote themselves as doing something good for us and America. So they corkscrew us!

They make back room deals and give our tax money to foreigners who build factories with our money. Then they write laws that send our jobs overseas. This makes them dirty dealers!

So lets total all this up. They lie, cheat, steal, backstab, corkscrew, and dirty deal. HELL their Flim Flam Men! Just like in the George C. Scott movie “ The Flim Flam Man”!
They are called the “ Honorable” Senator or Representative. Hell Flim Flam Men have NO honor what so ever! They’re crooks, criminals for God’s sake!

The BBC has film of ALL of them going in and out of Abramoff’s restaurant. That’s THE place in DC to get loaded with lobby money. The BBC has been running this story, and trying to get the US media to run it too. The US media refuses to run the story.

It’s time to take America back! Get registered! VOTE! Vote for anyone that’s not a Democrat or a Republican. They have ALL the power and ALL the control. They must bear ALL the responsibility for their gross mismanagement, abysmally poor judgment, lies, cheating, thefts, back stabs, corkscrews, and dirty deals! It’s time to put THEM in the unemployment line!

Answer 8

if you want to know you need to study the politcal landscape of the 1790's. Left V Right.