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[Warm Machine]

Just curious. I thought that over the years the multiple parties had been melded together or something.

 

[Wolfy]

Well, yes. However, the democrats and republicans were's the original parties.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

No, we have always had third and even fourth parties but, they are short lived. George Washington strongly resented the rise of the political party system and saw it as what would be the downfall of the country.

 

[fart]

the two party system is incidental to the political structure, not by decree. that's our pluralist system for you... :/ marketplace of ideas my ass

 

[StoOgE]

there have allways been two dominent parties, but not the ones that exist currently.

However, for brief periods of time, third parties have managed to have strong showings.. but they eventually go on to replace one of the two main parties or die off quickly thereafter. Stupid people have enough trouble dealing with two sides to an arguement.

Off the top of my head, the two strongest third party candidates have been the socialist party around WWI and Perot...

however the parties didnt used to be as strong as they are now, Lincoln only won the election because too many people split votes against him... also the runner up in a presidential election generally would become the veep.

and up until 25 years ago or so the nominating conventions actually meant something, JFK never would have gotten the nod if a backroom deal hadnt been struck between JFK and LBJ... they were the number 2 and 3 candidates respectively, but their combined power pushed them to the top of the heap.

 

[ShadowRed]

"Did the US always have a 2 party system? "




I'm so tired of this crap about a two party system. This country DOES NOT HAVE A TWO PARTY SYSTEM!!!! There can be as many parties are there wants to be be, the problem is that people have been feed this "We have a two party system crap." that people don't bother to look for the other parties. That and the fact that the Democrats and Republicans do their damnest to look like they are appealing to everyone when they run but only serve a small group when they get elected. The American peoples memories are so short year after year they fall for the same trick.

 

[Warm Machine]

I'm Canadian and just curious about US politics.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

"Did the US always have a 2 party system? "




I'm so tired of this crap about a two party system. This country DOES NOT HAVE A TWO PARTY SYSTEM!!!! There can be as many parties are there wants to be be, the problem is that people have been feed this "We have a two party system crap." that people don't bother to look for the other parties. That and the fact that the Democrats and Republicans do their damnest to look like they are appealing to everyone when they run but only serve a small group when they get elected. The American peoples memories are so short year after year they fall for the same trick.

We have a captain of football team and the prom queen for two politcal parties, this isn't 16 candles. You can vote for the geeks if you want but, you are just throwing away your vote.

 

[fart]

it's a de facto two party system. third parties have almost never had a sginificant influence in american politics.

 

[Wolfy]

ROSS PEROT

 

[Dilbert]

I can think of a bunch of important third parties over the course of American history: Federalists, Whigs, Progressives, American Independent. The current Republican party started as a "third" party in the mid-1800s, in fact.

There are a lot of reasons why there is currently a de facto two-party system in the United States...but a big contributor has to be the fact that the existing two major parties have gone out of their way to make it next to impossible for a third party to have a significant impact on the political process. In terms of formal structure, our electoral system is known as "single member district polarity," in which an individual votes for a particular representative for each of the geographic districts in which he/she resides. (For example: Based on where I live, I am in a district for the House of Representatives, the Senate, and, of course, the presidency.) If I participate in a Senatorial election and vote for a candidate from the Jinx Party (what do you mean, you haven't heard of them? ), and the vote turns out to be 10% Jinx (my brand-new party), 43% Democratic, and 47% Republican, then my vote is "wasted" because my choice didn't win.

Contrast that system with one in which you have a representative parliamentary democracy in which the percentage of seats in the legislature is equal to the percentage of the popular vote won. In such a system, smaller parties can make a HUGE different on current affairs by becoming the "swing vote" in a coalition government. In my example above, 10% of the seats in the Senate would be made up of representatives from the Jinx Party. Suddenly, Jinx has FAR more of an influence on policy, since either side can guarantee a majority by getting our participation in a vote. Several elements from the Jinx platform get added to the Democratic agenda, we vote together as a bloc, and I feel good because my views have helped move the country.

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

Contrast that system with one in which you have a representative parliamentary democracy in which the percentage of seats in the legislature is equal to the percentage of the popular vote won. In such a system, smaller parties can make a HUGE different on current affairs by becoming the "swing vote" in a coalition government. In my example above, 10% of the seats in the Senate would be made up of representatives from the Jinx Party. Suddenly, Jinx has FAR more of an influence on policy, since either side can guarantee a majority by getting our participation in a vote. Several elements from the Jinx platform get added to the Democratic agenda, we vote together as a bloc, and I feel good because my views have helped move the country.

That sounds like Canada talk to me! Get him outta here!

 

[Diablos]

No, we have always had third and even fourth parties but, they are short lived. George Washington strongly resented the rise of the political party system and saw it as what would be the downfall of the country.

Washington was right, then. There needs to be more parties, and they need more power.

 

[The Fronde]

I thought that political parties really began in this country around the issue of the Constitution. There were the Federalists like Hamilton and the Anti-Federalists like Jefferson. I don't think parties played a big or even notable role beforehand, but if someone knows otherwise, please inform me.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Tories & Whigs

 

[Tommie Hu$tle]

I thought that political parties really began in this country around the issue of the Constitution. There were the Federalists like Hamilton and the Anti-Federalists like Jefferson. I don't think parties played a big or even notable role beforehand, but if someone knows otherwise, please inform me.

You are correct. The idea of parties started then, the formed into parties Federalist and Democratic-Republican around the second term of Washington's presidency. The main arguement was around the creation of a central bank. Hamilton was for it and Jefferson was against it. There is more to it than that but, this is just a quick snapshot. I'll let our history buffs take it from here.

 

[Hitokage]

The Democratic party dates all the way back to Jefferson, although through a few name changes. The Republican party got it's start sometime before the civil war. Before them the Whigs had prominence.

It's important to understand that a political party and political ideology are not one and the same. Not only can members of a party have varying views, the ideas a party represents can change as well, and have considerably over the decades.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Another interesting thing about Washington is that he warned us about getting involved with countries overseas.

 

[The Fronde]

I had forgotten about the national bank, thanks

 

[belgurdo]

No, we have always had third and even fourth parties but, they are short lived. George Washington strongly resented the rise of the political party system and saw it as what would be the downfall of the country.

JOHN TI-GEORGE WASHINTON WAS RIGHT!!1