Can we ever expect our country to be united as long as we have two political parties that are divided?

Question

I feel our country would be much better off if we did away with both political parties and elected individuals who all had one thing in my mind, the betterment of our country. It seems to me that the welfare of our country gets neglected amid the constant squabbling between Democrats and Republicans. Instead of coming together and focusing on the needs of the American people, they seem to be more focused on bashing, degrading or discrediting one another. Another thing I often see among both parties is how they always try to cover up or defend mistakes made by their party members instead of admitting when they are wrong. If the two party system were eliminated corrupt or incompetent politicians would have no party to hide behind and therefore would be held more accountable for their actions. Our country would be much better off if we elected individuals based on their credentials, merit and moral character rather than being influenced by the political party they represent.

Answer 1

I think eliminating political parties is an important, if not essential, step to regaining some type of sanity in office.

And even if political parties cannot be eliminated, we need a drastic overhaul of the election process, both electoral college allocation per state that makes minority votes irrelevant, and federal districting that results in locking down the two major parties.

{EDIT to Neddie} That's the whole point of the problem. The most vocal elements of each party control the party, and the system doesn't allow for any way to escape that deadlock.

Answer 2

We need to attack this problem from the bottom up. We have no democracy because our elections have been bought forever. Today we have laws that state there will be acountable voting (a machine which only accepts properly filed out forms, makes two numbered hard copies one for the ballot box and one to take home and a vote publication by number so we can check to see if our vote was counted) it could be computerized. We also need a way to make sure we know what our politicians are doing. Now it is hard to find out what they did. Someone needs to put it in easy terms and a site to check. I am trying to find out where my people are on internet neutrality but it is not easy. Thats what the press is suposed to be doing instead of telling us about the stars etc. If our votes really counted, we knew what who, etc we were voting for there would be more accountability. Gotta start somewhere I sugest the bottom. If there were no users there would be no losers, spread the word. It's users who are bad not losers.

Answer 3

For a long time some of the smartest and truly patriotic Americans have condemned the Republican-Democratic two-party duopoly with their stranglehold on our political system. Both major parties are really controlled by corporate and other special financial interests, causing total corruption of both of them. The only hope for restoring American democracy is to have vibrant third parties. Study American history and you will learn that at critical times it was third parties that greatly advanced the nation. And that's exactly what we now need. For example, take a look at the Populist Party of America and read this great new book: Delusional Democracy - Fixing the Republic Without Overthrowing the Government.

Answer 4

The problems we are facing today, namely illegal immigration, wars in Iraq and elsewhere, and wasteful spending to name a few, are problems our leaders should be taking care of, not bickering about. I would support any decision our leaders make if they would just start making them. Politicians nowadays, I feel, are dishonoring the people of America by not truly representing them. They can defend their platforms well but I want to see some action. They are causing a rift between the American people by letting these issues go unresolved and the rift is only going to get bigger with each new issue we face. Eventually we are going to all reach our breaking point and DEMAND action. If every pissed off American would call or write a letter to our leaders they would be so overwhelmed with criticism they would have to do something, wouldn't they? We as taxpaying citizens need to demand action as this country is by the people for the people and I think our leaders have forgotten that.

Click on my picture and check out my question on this very topic.

Answer 5

The Founding Fathers agreed with you: they didn't want political parties to exist either.

There's some basic problems, however:

- Our electoral system is a winner-take-all system, which plays a big part in why we have a two-party system (third parties cannot hope to ever control a chamber of Congress);

- Our electoral system is also expensive (dramatically moreso since the dawn of the television age) and candidates have to find ways to raise money, which is another reason that political parties are maintained;

- Lastly, once in power in Congress, a majority coalition has to be formed if chamber rules are to be made and anything is to be accomplished (even parliamentary systems need majority coalitions in order to function).

I do not defend the two political parties we have now: their tactics and behaviors are deplorable and have caused great damage to our nation and our politics. But unless we install a parliamentary system of government (which has its own set of flaws) AND pony up for 100% public funding of campaigns, I'm afraid we're stuck with them. Just my cynical-but-realistic opinion. If you want the Dems and Reps to be better than they are, then you need to reform them from within or shake them up from the outside.

Please don't give up on the idea of reforming our nation's politics. Our nation needs more idealists when it comes to electoral policies and procedures.

Answer 6

first we need to get rid of the current crop of incumbant politicians that are only concerned with holding onto thier current position. from that point on we need to institute term limits at all levels of government. either move on to another higher office or go home and rejoin the civilian population. the age of the life long senator or congressman has got to end.

Dave you have a few goood points there but the idea that a third party can never win an election has to be discarded. I ant tell of the number of people I have heard say that they didnt vote for the person they really wanted because there was no way he/she could win. as long as people maintain that attitude then they are indeed wasting their vote. vote for the candidate of your choice not against the one you despise the most

Answer 7

Ahhh, yet that's what makes democracy superb. If the answer to the questions posed by ability of working a rustic have been basic then a working laptop or computing device or a dictator might desire to do a solid job of it. we want debate and we want war of words because of the fact it produces some thing very close to to the perfect effect. If one political party runs the country poorly the different opposes them on key themes and wins the subsequent election. If any united states is thoroughly united then its human beings are not thinking complicated adequate with regard to the final undemanding strategies to run it!

Answer 8

the problem is not the political parties,, it's the religious right and the activist left