Why The United States Has Only Two Major Political Parties

In order to avoid losing voters to third parties, the two major parties are often forced to adopt positions championed by third parties. To fully comprehend why third parties exist, it is important to first be able to identify the numerous challenges they face in order to gain any sense of credibility.

Explain historical evolution of the American two-party system and the functions parties perform in the American political system.

Another reason for the insignificance of third parties and the reason for the two party system is the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system. Unfortunately for third parties, the two main parties always tend to come out with the majority even if they don’t win the popular vote. An example of the unfairness of this voting system is in 2008 the independent party of America managed to get 1 in every 5 votes but still didn’t manage to gain seats. Having said that, FPTP in theory allows for a strong stable government with a hefty majority providing they dominate congress and the legislature.

First, the two-party system does not create an equal policy in society because it does not allow people to get far if they are not within either of the two parties. The idea of the winner-take-all electoral system is the hostile terrain for third parties because the odds are in favor of the bigger parties (Conray). The bigger parties over the years seem to have the upper hand within the government, and especially within the elections.

There are three types of political system in the world. They are the one party, two parties and multi-party. America has a two party system. The two party systems are still in existence because of historical circumstance, stability; the winner takes all principle and preservation of the two-monopoly system and due to the informal institutional supports. A two party system is a system that involves two major political parties and these two parties including a majority and a minority party that dominate within a government.

The two-party system is said to promote governmental stability because a single party can win a majority of political offices and, with less bickering between differing and partisan legislators, govern more efficiently. In a multiparty country, on the other hand, the formation of a government depends on the maintenance of a coalition of parties with enough total strength to form a political majority. The weakness of the ties that bind the coalition may threaten the continuance of a cabinet in power. The stability shown by the government of the United States has not been entirely due to its party system, it has been argued, but has been promoted also by the fixed tenure and strong constitutional position of the president, as well as checks and balances built into the constitution to prevent one branch of federal government from becoming too powerful.

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 parties formed after the Constitution was adopted as the need to systematically search for and encourage popular support became apparent. The structure of a party allows a group of like-minded politicians to mold popular support in the favor of the candidate of their choice where alone they could only accomplish the creation of multiple less organized and therefore less politically potent factions. The nature of the political system already in place gave no value to coming in second or third in elections at any level of government, leading to the natural growth of two strong parties who battle for supremacy at every election (July 22). The winner takes all, and the opposition spends their time getting ready to try again as they wait for their next chance. Once the two parties, Democrat and Republican, were firmly settled in to the system they affected legislation to give themselves automatic ballot access and state funding, making election that much harder for other parties and thereby ensuring that it remained a two party system (July 22).

Currently in the United States the system in which the government works has allowed there to be a two-party dominance with the Democrat party and the Republican party. Both parties had a large following in previous years. In the book, Governing States and Localities by Kevin B. Smith and Alan Greenblatt they introduce reasons like the elimination of party machines and the mobility of the American people has lead for one party dominance in most states to decline. For example, before party machines were very much involved in controlling minority communities in voting for their people however this did not last long where eventually there was a reform in the system that stopped these party machines from growing. Additionally, we have seen that

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

A few of the reasons minor (third) parties have not been more successful in the United States are the ballot rules, debate rules, and the election structure. The candidates for major elections must meet state determined criteria to be included on election ballots. These often require candidates to collect a large number of signatures or pay large fees to be listed. In regards to debate rules, since the 1960s when televised presidential debates began, only a couple of times have third party candidates been able to participate. Limiting their ability to gain a following among the electorate by publicizing their views. Lastly, American elections are structured as “winner-take-all” votes. Which means regardless of the margin of victory, the candidate

In recent discussion of Democrats and Republican parties, a controversial issue has been whether or not the U.S. should expand their options from more than a two party system. On the one hand, some argue that there should be more choices other than between the two Democrat Party and Republican Party. From this perspective, voters have more of a variety when they vote. On the other hand, some argue that the U.S. should remain as a two party system. In the words of Gary Johnson, one of this view’s main proponents, “The Republicans and Democrats have spent decades trading power back and forth between themselves, and in doing so, have managed to install a two-party duopoly that completely controls America’s political process.” According to this view, Democrats and Republicans are dictating other parties opportunities to get elected. In sum, then, the issue is whether there should be other options rather than a choice between the Democrat and the Republican Party. I agree with Gary Johnson’s view that the Democrat and Republican Parties are controlling America’s

A two-party system is a form of party system where two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected offices end up being held by candidates chosen by one of the two major parties. Under a two-party system, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referred to as the majority party while the other is the minority party. The United States of America is considered a two-party system. The chances for third party candidates winning election to any office are remote, although it's possible for groups within the larger parties, or in opposition to one or both of them, to have an influence

The political system of America is very different from other developed and developing democracies. Most notable is the increased power bestowed on the upper house of the parliament, the extensive power held by the Supreme Court and the dominance demonstrated by only two major parties. In the United States, third parties have the least influence on the world’s most developed democracy’s political structure. In this democracy, people are under the US Constitution of the governmental system as well as state government and other units of local government. Local government entails counties, districts and municipalities. The evolution of the American political party system has come a long way; with Hamilton and Jefferson being regarded as the founder fathers of the modern party system. These were heads of the Federalist and Anti-Federalist groups in the 18th century of American politics. Ever since, the country has maintained a party system that has two main parties that are relatively stable. These are Democrats and Republicans and have remained in contest for election every time since the 1860 presidential elections. Initially, the Republican Party was the dominant party but the Democrats later gained dominance. However, the two parties became closely competitive and neither of them has been notably dominant since the 1970s (O'Connor & Sabato, n.d).

Competition that otherwise would occur between major parties occurs in majority party. Voters don't participate as much. (Magleby 66)