Is the two party system destroying America?

Question

Very few people would continue to eat at a restaurant that only served two items.

On a political scale, isn't that exactly what we are doing as Americans?

I realize that there are numerous "third parties", but they are often silenced quickly by both the Democrats and Republicans, as well as the media. Rare is the occasion when a third party is given a viable opportunity to present their views on an equal stage with their rivals.

Thoughts?

Answer 1

YES

Answer 2

Could anyone of you please explain the difference between plain vanilla and French vanilla? I'm French, never heard of something like that?
For us in France, your system with two big parties seems really odd, here, even for the extreme left, we must have at least 3 parties:
Ligue communiste révolutionnaire
Parti communiste
and the third one, I can't recall.

Ar our last elections, we thought a big party of the center (recently named Parti Démocrate by François Bayrou) has made enough votes in the first tour to have consistent weight on the second, but Sarkozy (you know, our little nervous president, recently divorced?) put so much pressure on the politicians that poor Bayrou is almost alone in his partie now.
Oh yes, we have many parties, but in the end, what's the difference ? big party at the right side of the check (UMP with Sarkozy) and the left is represented by the parti socialist who is no longer socialist and very much divided now...

What's in for the Frenchies? You have to work more and get paid less, when you have the chance to have a job. I, personnally have two masters and no hope to find a job anytime soon. France is no more a paradise than any other "rich" countries, it's always paradise for a happy few.

Answer 3

Our present system promotes domination by two parties and little chance of a third showing up any time soon.

There are a few things we could do short of banning political parties all together. 1. Require political parties to post what their platform planks actually are. 2. Require candidates running under a party banner to post which of the party's planks they agree with. 3. All ads would require designation of which plank of the party it was addressing. 4. Prohibit any ad that references an oppositions position or action. 5. Remove ALL references to party affiliation from the ballot. 6. Do not do away with the Electoral college. However allocate a states EC votes by a percentage basis instead of a winner takes all. If the most popular candidate gest 60% of the vote then they get 60% of the EC vote for that state.

I threw that last one in because we dumped English rule because we had no representation yet we were baing taxed. In the last election in California John Kerry did not recieve all the votes and George Bush did not recieve all the votes in Texas. But they both received ALL the EC votes for those states. Republicans in California and Democrats in Texas were not represented in the casting to the EC vote. Was that fair? I know it was legal --but was that fair?

Answer 4

I absolutely agree with you. But my feelings are even stronger than yours. It already has destroyed America. We are a playground for the rich with the politicians being well paid servants and the rest of us are just here to make them richer in any way possible and we'd better shut up about it.

Bush can't run a business so they sent him to the White house as their puppet to make them (his friends and family) richer still. And he's doing great.

Where I don't quite agree with you is that we actually have one party with two faces. Do you really think Kerry would have helped the workers of America get better pay, health insurance, and other benefits? No way. It would eat away at his ketchup profits.

To get back to your restaurant with only two items on the menu: one is a hamburger and the other is a cheeseburger.

As for the "third parties," they don't stand a chance until people get educated enough to 1/ realize we basically only have one party in the present system, 2/ the Green Party or independent or whatever are not the devil, and 3/ neither is socialism. I spend a lot of time in France and although the French love to whine I don't see them flocking to our borders seeking refugee status. We have a lot of British rock stars who live here to avoid the high taxes of their own country but, in case you haven't noticed, a lot of them keep homes in GB.

True, communism did not work out very well but if you spend just a few minutes thinking about why (assuming that you really know something about communism), it was mostly a case of over-compensation. What did the three best known communist regimes try to succeed: Russia got rid of its tsars, China of its Dynastys and Cuba of the American influence (which at that time meant nobody was getting paid much for their work unlike here as we still had fairly strong unions and a difference worth talking about in the two parties.) The worst types of societies which, in good conscience, makes it hard to blame them for wanting a change. But, yes they totally fu**ed it up.

I talk too much. Sorry.

Edit: After reading the other answers, I just have to make a few more remarks.

My favorite answer so far comes from a man with a mohawk. Thank God for weirdos

Plain vanilla/French vanilla is way better than hamburger/cheeseburger. Cheese does make too much of a difference. Plain/french vanilla, most people couldn't tell the difference. Thanks. Hope you don't mind my using this in the future.

Top Contributor Greg: You might be surprised at how fast a Big Ship can make a 180. Maybe you want to read on the French, Russian and Chinese revolutions.

To all who said we need a third party: We do have a third party. Also a fourth, and fifth. And independents too. But you have to vote for them. Most people are afraid to vote for those candidates because it's going to take votes away from the Two. So what? Neither one is worth a sh*t.

Top Contributor Brian wouldn't know moderate if it hit him in the face.

Enough already. I will give your question another star though.

Answer 5

i agree, but there's one big problem with having multiple parties. If we had a 3 or 4 party system the percentage of votes required to be elected president would be much less. So you could have people elected with only 34% of the votes. Currently the president has about that high of an approval rate and citizens think it's horrible. Imagine if that was the approval upon the president being elected. Just a thought I'm not pro-2 party, but there are down sides to having more.

Answer 6

if by opportunity you mean money or financial backing...then the third parties do have less opportunity.

Having two powerful parties is the cause and effect of the polarization that exists...you're either with them or with us...for us or against us.....

but it is the result of humana nature, where one usually tries to belong to the group that they most identify with...and wanting that group to have the power to protect and serve your interests...you compromise, change your platform, re-state your values...so that your army, er I mean party is as big and powerful as theirs....and thus it ends up there are usually just two big kids on the block each with their own gang.

Your point though about third parties being silenced is almost moot, since the majority of citizens wouldn't make the effort to listen to their views. Many eligible voters lack the education, understanding of the issues, or motivation to be competent INDEPENDENT voters.

Answer 7

We are a nation of 300 million people, and a GDP of 13.3 trillion dollars a year. The country is a big ship, and it takes a while to turn around. Increasing factionalization won't make it any easier to turn around or speed up the process. The good news is that once the direction is set, there is an immense economic engine and the political aparatus to get the job done.

I wouldn't worry too much. What needs to be done will eventually get done.

Answer 8

Yes, but it is worse than you think. Our votes do count anymore. Remeber the smokescreen in Florida during the Gore/ Bush election? Who is the Governor of Florida? Who is their Father?
Did you know... that all third party votes count more as a vote to one of the Major Parties who might be leading?
For that matter, now the 'Party' concept does not even matter. Why do you think Kerry so graciously 'conceded' his running to Bush? Because they are on the same team regardless of Party.
The next president of this country has already been bought and paid for, and I can guarantee you this: that person is not on the side of We The People.

Answer 9

I agree, I am not part of any political party affiliation but I agree we need to change the normal way of thinking when it comes to elections.
Maybe someday we Americans will wake up and vote for the right person not the right party.

Answer 10

There isn't a two party system in the US. It is just that two parties have garnered pretty much all of the support basically because they are the two most moderate. It is up to the voters who has power and it is our fault for not exercising that power.........

Answer 11

I'm very against the two-party system because it polarizes Americans. We have enough of an Us-vs-Them mindset on the large scale when it comes to foreign policy, we don't need it in our country too.

I still have faith in third parties. Yes, I'm an idealist, but need I remind you that the Republicans were once a third party? Look at them now.