The Fault In American Democracy

Third parties offer voters an alternative to the same two parties that run in the presidential election every four years, often with more concrete goals and views, yet there has never been successful third party candidate. For over one and a half centuries, the Republicans and Democrats have held a duopoly over the United States government (Diamond 2015). People have been growing more and more frustrated in their government and the two parties, so why haven’t third-party candidates gained any ground in the political sphere?

Such parties may claim to be trying to answer rampant demands or solve serious problems, but their true intentions are to take the power away from the people and place it in the hands of men who don’t deserve it. In the words of Washington, he states: "However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.” In this quote Washington explains how both parties (Democratic and Federalist) may love their country, but also about how he feared that having separate parties may leave the people loving their parties, more than our country. Ironically, when George Washington became President of the United States in 1789 during his first term, there were no political parties, and looking at today’s society, things have changed. George Washington was clearly very aware of the destructive nature of Political Parties and the harm that it could do to our country, but we have not learned from our mistakes to this day***** add something else/switch

They point to the fact that a third party candidate has never won an election for the presidency (Duvall). When an individual feels he or she’s vote is wasted, they are overlooking the fact that an unprincipled vote is the only wasted vote. Voting the lesser of two evils is still evil and is something that shouldn’t be instilled in future generations. If one thinks the Republican or the Democrat really does best mirror their beliefs, by all means, vote for that candidate. But if one doesn’t, he or she is helping to preserve the status quo they probably

It truly is a shame that a stigma is put upon anyone who “throws their vote away” by casting their ballot for a third party, for third parties offer an attractive alternative to the “cookie-cutter” positions of the Democratic and Republican parties. The sooner the American public realizes that voting for a third party or candidate not even in the election, the sooner the political climate of the United States becomes an overall better, more specialized, and tame

A Political Party is defined as “a formal coalition of interests joined together to get their candidates for public office elected under a common label and agenda.” Political Parties, over time, have seemed to do more harm than good for our nation. The founders of America never even intended for this nation to be separated into two different Political Parties. “There is nothing which I dread so much as a division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our Constitution.” John Adams, The Works Of John Adams, Second President Of The United States.

Third parties fail to achieve electoral victories and representation in modern American politics have been because of the structure of the types of the elections, the ballot rules, and the debate rules. Even if the third parties have equal standards, views, resources, etc., lacking in popularity and significance within the government may increase the chance of not being able to represent in politics. “In order to appreciate the reasons for the Electoral College, it is essential to understand its historical context and the problem that the Founding Fathers were trying to solve.” (Kimberling) In the nation, the political parties brought up concerns and questioning of how electing a president with no such political parties would be possible

The American two-party system is the result of the way elections are structured in the United States. Representatives in the Congress and in state legislatures are elected to in single-member districts where the individual with the most votes wins. Seeing that only one party 's candidate can win in each district, there is a strong motivation for political candidates to organize themselves into two competing parties. By doing so, party members and candidates maximize their chances of winning elections. In some countries where there are multi-member districts, parties that win smaller percentages of the vote can often win legislative representation. Consequently, in such systems, there is an incentive to form smaller third parties. Other features of the American system of elections, such as campaign finance rules, the Electoral College, and rules giving party candidates ballot access further reinforce the two-party system in the United States. While third parties rarely win major elections, and never the presidency, they have been successful in changing the outcome of elections by withdrawing political support away from one of the two major party candidates. Whatever American system contains to encourage a two party system typically discourages the emergence of third parties. Ever since third parties have emerged in American political history, their successes have been short-lived. Most third parties try to build their support to become like one of the dominant parties, just

Jere a logical approach demands a fundamental understanding of the representative democracy that we have. We have a two party democracy, period. Not because other parties do not exist, but because our infrastructure will not allow those parties to govern. Our constitutional framework makes the ascension of a third party essentially impossible, which is why Sanders wisely ran for president as a Dem. Respectfully, a vote for a third party will not change a constitutional structure that supports 2 party government; moreover, only a change in HOW candidates are elected and popular votes are apportioned (particularly in federal and state legislative bodies) will change that. With that understanding, we have an inexperienced candidate who is threatening

Although America has long been a bipartisan government, it would be more beneficial to move to an open multi-party system to give Americans more choice in its elections, and more political diversity. Third-party running candidates in America are always a possibility, but are majorly overshadowed by the already well established Democratic and Republican party candidates. Many Americans would prefer an alternative to our current system, but are either bullied into conforming to it, or are convinced that third-party is a waste of a vote. One of the main reasons we stick to either Republicans or Democrats is because it is familiar and we oppose change. The two-party system is not the best system for America and could be improved upon greatly..

In American politics the two party system is so dominant that there not much room left for third parties to get votes from the constituents. This is why third parties are often written off in American politics because they do not have power to effect direct change in the political system. Third parties are more of an indirect change. They draw from the more focused constituents who have a specific grievance that neither the larger parties are concerned with changing. The people who vote for third party candidates are more likely to be unhappy with the direction of the major parties or have grievances with the establishment.

The 2016 presidential election has brought many surprises and upsets. Both major party candidates are viewed unfavorably by many American citizens. This makes some Americans question: is it time for a third party to gain political power and help our faltering two party system? In the article, “Is It Time for a Third Party?”, Patricia Smith provides information about third parties and how a third party might be able to rise up to compete with the main two parties in the future. Smith effectively develops her ideas by explaining third parties, including graphics to better explain her thoughts, and discussing how the current atmosphere may allow third parties to rise to prominence.

In recent years, and especially in the time following the recent election, many Americans - especially Bernie Sanders and the like - have furthered the ideology that America is becoming an oligarchy. Founding father Thomas Jefferson once said, "The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations." Because American politics are so heavily influenced by money, social status and media attention, I believe that we are closer to a complete oligarchical political system than ever before.

Republican and Democrat presidential candidates, because of the national attention and scrutiny, have held positions of status 97.2% of the time. Contrast this with third party candidates in the past, in which less than 20% of them held similar positions. These images are hard to overcome in the mind of the public. This has created a vicious cycle and “self-fulfilling prophecy”: these third party candidates have not won in the past, leading people to believe they cannot win, leaving people less likely to vote for them, and so on. Breaking this cycle is going to take many years and positive reinforcement from qualified candidates (McDaniel,

We live in this country for the land, and the for the free as Americans we rely on many attributes in this world in order for us to live our lives. Our government has supplied us with many great things for us to be proud of. Our government is “the institutions and processes though which public policies are made for society.” (Edwards, Wattenberg, and Lineberry, p. 7). With all these institutions which includes the President, Congress, the courts and all the federal administrative agencies. These are the institutions that make up public policies for us, and to shape the way we live as Americans. The way this system has been operating through all the years has been

When we look at the current state of politics in this country, there is one common trend: party loyalty. When we look at society, we see people grasping to the ideologies and beliefs of their individual parties. Formally, we would expect to hear the talking points made by politicians on our televisions. However, in this current state, we hear these talking points at our kitchen tables. On Facebook, we see our friends argue over what thing our President said today, or what scandal took place yesterday. In Alabama, Roy Moore has had credible claims brought against him that he has sexually assaulted teenagers earlier in his life, and still he has a chance to be the next Senator of Alabama. The problem is clear to everyone, party loyalty has clouded our judgment. When we look to politics, we do not use our morals, our better judgment, or even the values we use every day to make decisions on what we should do in reference to politics. Instead, we allow our party loyalty decide the path. Ultimately party loyalty harms nations by destroying our moral character, allowing our parties to go against democratic processes, and finally, by forcing politicians to be idealistic and not pragmatists.