Breaking the duopoly
How does it feel, as Americans, to know that you have one more political candidate to choose from than the Soviet Union? You've only got two choices, Democrat and Republican (pretty much left-leaning centrist vs. right-leaning centrist). It sounds very grim when some people call it a 'duopoly' (even grimmer when they call it a two-party dictatorship).
The bi-partisan Commision on Presidential Debates essentially excludes third parties from national debates by requiring candidates to meet very high standards (made even tougher because Perot kept crashing the party) and strict ballot access laws stagnates the growth of any third party and acts as a roadblock to the debates for third parties.
tldr;
The American system is fucked because it doesn't allow for people outside the traditional political box to make a difference.
edit: forgot to even mention the effect of a winner-takes-all voting system on third parties (hint: it's bad), as opposed to proportional voting.
The bi-partisan Commision on Presidential Debates essentially excludes third parties from national debates by requiring candidates to meet very high standards (made even tougher because Perot kept crashing the party) and strict ballot access laws stagnates the growth of any third party and acts as a roadblock to the debates for third parties.
tldr;
The American system is fucked because it doesn't allow for people outside the traditional political box to make a difference.
edit: forgot to even mention the effect of a winner-takes-all voting system on third parties (hint: it's bad), as opposed to proportional voting.
Last edited by Ele; Jan 21, 2015 at 05:36 AM.
The reason there are only two (real/active/influential) political parties is because independent parties have tried (and largely failed) to gain dominance. The last third-party presidential election was in 1800, and by then the Democrats had already started to get a foothold in the government. Sure, other parties put up their own lesser-known candidates, but in the end, only two candidates stand. I suspect a good number of US citizens don't even know that there are more than two parties to choose from.
All it takes is one bad day to reduce the sanest man alive to lunacy. That’'s how far the world is from where I am. Just one bad day.
Originally Posted by hawkesnightmare
The reason there are only two (real/active/influential) political parties is because independent parties have tried (and largely failed) to gain dominance. The last third-party presidential election was in 1800, and by then the Democrats had already started to get a foothold in the government. Sure, other parties put up their own lesser-known candidates, but in the end, only two candidates stand. I suspect a good number of US citizens don't even know that there are more than two parties to choose from.
It's not like the US Citizens vote means anything outside of popularity. The electoral college is who actually decides the president.
If anything, the idea of parties is meant to divide and conquer the voters minds.
Hoss.
