The United States has only two major political parties: the Democrats and the Republicans. These parties have a duopoly, meaning that they share almost all the political power in the country. In the United States, a candidate wins the election by gaining a plurality, or more votes than any other candidate. This is a winner-take-all system because there is no reward for the party or candidate that finishes second. Parties aim to be as large as possible, smoothing over differences among candidates and voters. There is no incentive to form a party that consistently gets votes but cannot win an election. As a result, two political parties usually dominate plurality electoral systems to the disadvantage of smaller third parties, just as the Democrats and the Republicans dominate the American political system. No one person or organization prevents third parties from forming, but the plurality system itself usually hinders their efforts to win votes. The United States also has mostly single-member districts, meaning that each legislative district sends only one member to the legislature. There is no benefit to finishing second. Some countries use multiple-member districts, which makes it easier for minor parties to succeed because there are more members winning seats in the legislature. Also the way the US electoral college system is set up discourages third-party candidates. The Electoral College exacerbates the winner-take-all system…
The reemergence of the two party system in America during the early to mid-1800s was due greatly to the battles for states' rights and the economic issues of the time. These two topics were closely associated with each other and they helped contributed to the political struggle between the Democrats and the Whigs. The political divisions had occurred one part due to Jackson's veto of the re-chartering of the Bank of the United States, the Tariff of Abominations, and the disastrous effects the Panic of 1837 had on the economy. Jackson's veto of the Maysville Road Bill and South Carolina's nullification of the Tariff of Abominations had an enormous effect on the separations of political support as they pertained to states' rights. These factors all contributed to the prolonged existence of the two-party system in America.…
American populace was partitioned to two groups. One group comprises of the federalists who were living in the north. Their advantage was in favor of the merchants, ship-owners, and the industrialist. They are currently known as the Democrat party. The North was experiencing a modern upset and Democratic Party was supportive of this change. The Second group comprises of the anti-federalists, who were living in the south and were in light of a legitimate concern for state and farmers right. They are presently known as the republican. History of the Americans demonstrates that the two political vested parties had/have their own particular thoughts. Those thoughts were planted to the most youthful era by the…
• What is a third party and what role do they have in American government?…
The US has a two party system, like the UK. One of the main reasons for this is because they both have a First-past-the-post voting system which is unlikely to change. Using this system, it enables two strong parties to be always competing with each other which can be argued as a good thing although it is also argued that it is unfair as it doesn’t give other parties an equal opportunity. A reason why these two parties are so dominant could be because they have ‘catch all’ policies so they attract a wider audience whereas third parties tend to have policies on specific issues such as the Green party which focus’ on environmental issues. One of…
It is possible for a new, third political party to succeed in the American political system, however it is difficult. Third party candidates have to get thousands of signatures on petitions to become listed on the ballot. Also, third-party candidates face financial issues because a party must have received at least five percent of the vote in the previous election to qualify for federal funds. Third parties can hope to attain attention for things they feel passionately about. Third parties appeal to people through…
Because of this, parties naturally form. In the United States, the formation can be traced to before The Constitution and the dispute over strong versus weak government, and continued to develop through the early years of the new government. Once the Constitution was established debates arose on several fronts. Whether it was through financial planning, distribution of power, or potentially unlawful treaties, tensions between the ideals of the two groups were enflamed. Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson were often so polarized that coming to compromises could be difficult, much to the chagrin of others, including Washington. However, they cannot be completely credited with forming the two-party system. Other politicians contributed, and at times the division was just the natural product of the circumstance. Also, they are not entirely the reason the system has persevered over time. Instead, the nature of elections in the United States have caused the two-party system to be maintained. All this being said, whether Hamilton and Jefferson are entirely to blame, they also proved that dissension is not always bad. It allows for different ideas to be heard and compromises to be made. Through their disagreements they produced innovation that has shaped the nation. This party system, though it has shifted and swapped over the years, still stands. The effects of these men run so deep that…
Despite the presence of dozens of minor parties in the United States, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party continue to dominate the political system to the point that we say the U.S. has a “two-party system.” Why have minor parties been so unsuccessful?…
In the 2000 election, Al Gore and Ralph Nader split the left wing vote. (Document 5). While Nader only won 3% of the popular vote, the election was so close that 3% more of the popular vote would have put Gore in office. (Document 5). This also happened in the 1912 election, when the Republicans split the vote between the incumbent Roosevelt, and Taft, allowing Wilson to win. The voters know that this will always be the result, so they do not vote for the party that their beliefs align with the closest. Instead, they vote Republican or Democrat to actually have a chance of winning the election. Third party candidates cannot win not only because of our two-party system, but because of our winner-take-all system. If two candidates split the liberal vote, the conservative party will win all the votes in that state. If this trend continues, the conservative party will win the entire election. (Document 6). If the United States based elections on the popular vote instead of the Electoral College, then people would be more likely to vote with the party they agree with most, not the party that is more likely to win. This would make citizens actually want to vote because they have more options and they would feel like their vote actually…
Patterson (2016) presents the idea that when a third party system arises in the United States it is short lived, mainly due to the election method that is used in America known as the plurality system, also known as “The winner takes all” (p. 226). Additionally, most third parties exhaust their funding before getting their name on the ballot. Furthermore, it has been proposed that one or both of the major parties will absorb the issues proposed by the third party causing its popularity to diminish. In this manner the existence of the third party gradually…
Historically, Republican and Democrat candidates have been known to ignore important issues and slide to the center for popular votes. In my opinion, there are two semi-viable third-party groups, and still have little hope of winning a general election. On…
Political parties are destroying America in my opinion. They shape an alliance to vote an assured way whether the designated official thinks through the bill as correct or incorrect. The need for authority has lead this nation to basically a two party system. Independents and other groups get nominated on odd circumstances, but time and again it takes the backing and money to make it happen. It turns out to be even worse as the public divided these parties, such that liberal Republicans and conservative Democrats. Unquestionably this Presidential election is more or less electing who you oppose less.…
In the United States of America a two party system is implicated however, there lies third party ballot that is designed to please those who have no party affiliation. Third parties have contributed astronomical ideas to American politics, from the abolition of slavery, to a woman's right to vote, to child labor laws. Though the candidates of the third party have little to no chance of winning a presidential election, they are of great importance when it comes to which of the standard two parties, Democratic and Republican, will win the election. Several factors come into place for a third party to influence an election, such as popularity of candidate, stance on issues, strong division between Democratic and Republican candidates,…
But the poll conducted by Gallup recently on the necessity of the third party showed quite different result. According to the poll, 46% of Americans thought that a third major party was needed and 45% of Americans replied that a third major party was not needed. This result is a big surprise to me. Because the United States has maintained the relatively successful and stable…
Some may think that a two party system is not fair, but if there were more than two major parties, people would start to get confused about who said what and to whom. And, as we all know, when people have a decision with too many options to choose from, they simply decide to not choose at all resulting in not voting also known as decreased voter turnout, which would not help America's political system. Decreased voter turnout means that not everyone chose to vote even though they could and a higher number of people voted the year before.…