Political Parties

[Kuan]

The U.S. uses two major parties in its politics while others use multiple parties.

For debate:

1. What works best, multiple parties or just two?
2. Should we even have political parties? Would it be better to just do away with them?

[Board]

All points of view should be equally represented and in a good democracy they would be represented in an equal percentage as the views that are held by the people. The US has several smaller parties but the Dems/Repubs have been the majority for some time now.

What works best? Level heads and cooperation regardless of party affiliation.

Should we have parties? Sure they work I guess to bring a group of people with common ideologies together in the political world. I personally think we need a few more players in the mix the force cooperation and stop the flip flopping we see every 2 and 4 years.

[Lux]

1. What works best, multiple parties or just two?

I'm very much opposed to the biparty system. I think it leads to things such as blind partisanship, voting for "the lesser of two evils" and of course the "I don't like how the president's doing and he's a republican, so I'll just vote democrat for congress/in the next elections".

The two main parties in the USA have become so strong that a third party practically doesn't stand a chance of winning, in a vicious circle sort of way. Some people don't vote for a third candidate because they think they're throwing their vote in the trash > The candidate doesn't win > They reaffirm their position that voting for a third party is useless.

I don't see how it would hurt to have more variety when it comes to candidates. I can think of instances where I thought neither candidate was good, or when I thought "I hope X wins so Y doesn't win" (Kerry v. Bush, for example).

2. Should we even have political parties? Would it be better to just do away with them?

I'm not sure how things would work without them. Could you give a scenario, please?

[Kuan]

1. What works best, multiple parties or just two?

I'm very much opposed to the biparty system. I think it leads to things such as blind partisanship, voting for "the lesser of two evils" and of course the "I don't like how the president's doing and he's a republican, so I'll just vote democrat for congress/in the next elections".

The two main parties in the USA have become so strong that a third party practically doesn't stand a chance of winning, in a vicious circle sort of way. Some people don't vote for a third candidate because they think they're throwing their vote in the trash > The candidate doesn't win > They reaffirm their position that voting for a third party is useless.

I don't see how it would hurt to have more variety when it comes to candidates. I can think of instances where I thought neither candidate was good, or when I thought "I hope X wins so Y doesn't win" (Kerry v. Bush, for example).

See this is why I posted this, every election I have seen people have said "Hes the lesser of two evils."

2. Should we even have political parties? Would it be better to just do away with them?

I'm not sure how things would work without them. Could you give a scenario, please?

I dont know either, what I do know is that some of the founding fathers did not like the idea of partys because they are basically factions. Im so uncreative I couldnt think of a scenario, sorry.

[Kuan]

All points of view should be equally represented and in a good democracy they would be represented in an equal percentage as the views that are held by the people. The US has several smaller parties but the Dems/Repubs have been the majority for some time now.

What works best? Level heads and cooperation regardless of party affiliation.

With the two party system the US is using, there does not seem to be any level heads or cooperation among the politicians. The Republican party says NO, the democrat party says YES, what happened to the issue? There doesn't seem to be a middle ground at all.

Should we have parties? Sure they work I guess to bring a group of people with common ideologies together in the political world. I personally think we need a few more players in the mix the force cooperation and stop the flip flopping we see every 2 and 4 years.

Exactly, but there are already other parties. The problem is the power that the two main parties have right now and I dont think there is a way to undo it.

[McCulloch]

Political parties in most democracies are not constitutionally necessary. They naturally evolve as a result of the electoral, representational system. The type of electoral system is a major factor in determining the type of party political system. In countries with first past the post voting systems there is an increased likelihood for the establishment of a two party system. So long as the United States retains its current disproportional electoral system, there will be little chance of any third party achieving any real political say. Personally, I find it very difficult to believe that the diversity of opinion of 212,702,354 eligible voters can be adequately represented by merely two parties.

[Kuan]

Political parties in most democracies are not constitutionally necessary. They naturally evolve as a result of the electoral, representational system. The type of electoral system is a major factor in determining the type of party political system. In countries with first past the post voting systems there is an increased likelihood for the establishment of a two party system. So long as the United States retains its current disproportional electoral system, there will be little chance of any third party achieving any real political say. Personally, I find it very difficult to believe that the diversity of opinion of 212,702,354 eligible voters can be adequately represented by merely two parties.

The two parties dont represent what everyone wants. In school they taught me too vote for the less of two evils and the guy who has the most in common with what I want. Doesnt sound like a great system to me....

[RDCH]

1. As a Belgian citizen, I have enough knowledge about a multi-party system.
Only 11 million inhabitants and more than 15 political parties...
There is such a diversity in our political system that it is hardly even still possible for two major parties to establish a government (as one doesn't ever reach more than 20% of the country's votes), as they need a third, minor party.

This system has the advantage that:
The biggest part of the population is always represented in some way.
This system has the disadvantage that:
There are so many disagreements that (for example, the year of 2010), in the end, nothing changes. One party blocks the decisions of the other and vice-versa.
I believe that Plato was right when he said that a democracy can only function
efficiently when it is run by strong and responsible leaders, which nowadays, is not the case in many democratic countries.

2. Yes, there must be political parties! Or at least, there must be something representing the opinion of the people. It's sad though that we must categorize ourselves in particular conviction patters, whereas no human thinks exactly the same..

[McCulloch]

The two parties don't represent what everyone wants. In school they taught me to vote for the less of two evils and the guy who has the most in common with what I want. Doesn't sound like a great system to me.

Yes, there are weaknesses in the two party system. They are somewhat addressed by a loosening of party discipline. A Republican can be far-right or close to the center, a Democrat can be anywhere from just right of center to just left of center. The far left is really not represented in US politics. But, come election day, any voter is given really only two options. Let's say your a just right of center kind of voter and your Republican candidate is far right and your Democrat is left of center. You cannot vote for your favored position. This democratic deficit in the system is helped by the primaries, where real voters get to select who is running to represent their party.

For what it is worth, Canada is not really any better. We have three¹ parties rather than two, so the left is represented by the New Democrats, a socialistish Labour party. However, we have no primaries.

______________
¹ Four in Québec, they have their own separatist party.