For a while now America has had a two party system that most Americans align with. This system has its flaws and I think now more than ever we are starting to see those flaws. So today that’s what I’ll talk about and hopefully by the end of this it makes you think about how imperfect our party system is and that there are things we can do to make it better for all Americans.
Because the two-party system puts multiple factions underneath a general umbrella, it creates a circumstance where voters have to “bite their tongue”. They might not like the candidate that represents their party, but that person might be seen as better than the person running on the other side. If you were in a multi-party system, you could vote for the exact person who represents your beliefs and values. With the current system we have in place you might vote for someone based on their stance on 1 or 2 important issues. That means the government may not be an accurate representation of what everyone wants.
In countries where there are multiple parties, the winning candidates have to form a healthy relationship with those they beat to effectively run the country. This does not happen with a two-party system because they spend most of their time undermining the other group, which I’m sure you see plenty of on the news. This would result in unnecessary legislation being passed while the government works with less efficiency, like government shutdowns and Filibustering.
In the United States, people consider voting for a third-party a waste of vote, so many people tend not to do it even though they feel it’s in their best interests. I believe this is a way of showing that you think differently. We are told to pick a candidate who best represents our ideals and morals but a lot of the time it feels like we are voting for the less of two evils. By weighing out all the advantages and disadvantages of having a two-party political system, you will find out more about what happens during elections.
Just like with every negative there is a positive so there are positives to having a two party system. I’ll talk about those in my next blog. I just think it’s important to know that nothing is perfect and everything has its flaws.
Forward 