How do you feel about the two party political system?

Question

I for one am disgusted by it and here are my reasons:

- They are hostile towards other political parties, using their vast amount of influence to ensure there is no party threatening their control. Example: h**l will freeze before you see a debate with a Democrat, Republican, and a candidate from any other party. Once the major parties found out, they would no longer participate in the debate.

- The congressman/woman is expected to vote along party lines, sometimes even if they don't agree with the particular issue. Those who vote outside the line face pressure and those who routinely cross the line will find themselves ostracized (example: Joseph Lieberman). Also you will find snowmen in h**l the day a Republican president vetoes a Republican backed bill. Ditto for Democrats.

- National debate is largely restricted on what the two major parties disagree on.

So why do the parties ensure they are the only acts in town? For power. I believe it's fair to say that the Republican and Democratic parties combined are more powerful than the U.S. Government, because they control the U.S. government. This is the exact reason why President George Washington greatly discouraged political parties to exist.

To look at how outside candidates have flustered the plans of major parties, you don't need to look any further than the presidential elections in the last 16 years. Ross Perot eroded support from George H.W. Bush and Bob Dole in the 90s while Ralph Nader could have greatly influenced the razor thin margins of the 2000 and 2004 elections by possibly grabbing votes that would have gone for Al Gore and John Kerry otherwise.

A permanent threat in the form of the rise of another major party scares the two major parties. Parties like the Libertarian and the Constitution Party would cut into the Republicans' voter base and power, while the Green Party and independents like Ralph Nader would weaken the Democratic Party.

However, I am curious to see what others think about the current party set up. Even if your opinions are different from mine I still want to hear your view.

Answer 1

i think it is nothing but a hindrance considering people vote based on party and not on candidate, people need to choose the best possible candidate, not the best candidate that their party has to offer. vote based on the issues and which candidate seems to have the best plan for the issues that face america i.e. economy: a candidate cannot just say, "lower taxes" as their plan, he must have real ideas, not just the same old recycled empty promises that we have heard every election season

do not vote based your registered party

Answer 2

Good reasons. I personally agree. But for the most part all I see on here is it is either a 2 party system or Communism. Apparently Americans can't see how having only 2 parties to choose from, at least in the Presidential elections, can only bring the country down.

If we are not growing as a nation then we are either stagnating or moving backwards.

But what ya gonna do? The indoctrination has been very thorough.

Answer 3

I think if we disbanded it, people might actually have to vote on the issues.

Answer 4

The Thing is, America isn't actually a two party, as you said there are other parties. I mean there is even an American n**i party. But with all the differtent parties it is hard to get a majority, thus the creation of 2 big parties, instead of Hundreds of little parties.

But with the George Washington thing, as soon as he left the next election had two parties. Those for a strong central government, Hamilton's side with John Adams as a canidate. And those for a weak central government, headed by Thomas Jefferson.

So, baisicly it is in our heritage to have the two party system, and although I admit it would be nice to have more diversity or one Perfect party, it just doesn't seem fesible at least not anytime soon. The prior is too disorganized, and the former is to utopian.

But, the one party thing would be either great or terrible depending on the ethics of that party. Oh, well untill then we will have to contine you to try and get the two parties to be more in the middle and less extreme.

Answer 5

To be honest, I am not surprised at all by our poor excuse of a political system. The blame, contrary to popular belief, does not lie with the two dominating parties. They are merely a red herring. The blame truly lies with the American People. Less than 30% of Americans actually get involved. The ones that DO get involved do very poor research into potential candidates, or are easily bullied by the party line of: "Don't vote for a third party, it's a throw-away vote." The guy who answered this question with "I won't read anything this long unless it's by Ann Coulter" is a perfect example.

The American People caused this problem by become passive. They will have to fix it by becoming involved and taking control of the mess and steering towards the proper ideal our forefathers had in mind.

Answer 6

Ours is so corrupt that perhaps a system akin to Parliament could improve things without a pm that is not elected but a pm directly elected or president or just head of state, however we are bound by our Constitution which if applied correctly is a great document

Answer 7

The only things this long that I will read have been written by Ann Coulter...

I'm not going to waste my time...