The election of 1796, John Adams versus Thomas Jefferson. The former won by only 3 single electoral college votes. In a highly competitive, controversial race filled with fake smiles and harsh glares, those votes made all the difference in the world to these two men and their running mates. Because George Washington refused a second term, political parties took root when election time came around. No one knew that this election in the early stages of Americas development would define the future of the United States of America. The Two-Party system soon controlled the decisions of all Americans. This is all this country has ever known, and if it were to every drastically change, our country would spin into ultimate turmoil. This system works …show more content…
If there was three parties, and one of the parties won the election by a slight ⅓ vote, it would not be a majority of the people. Therefore the country would turn from a democratic republic to a whole different, less inviting arrangement. For example, In Australia, they are run by a Multi-Party system. The Australian Labor Party won with 35% of the popular vote. In Two-Party systems, it needs to be 51%. 34% is not the majority of the people, whereas 51% is. This detail highlights that if we were ever to transfer smoothly to a different system, a party would not be chosen particularly by the bulk of the citizens. This would create more disruption in the country, which is definitely not needed …show more content…
Republicans and Democrats alike hastened into polling places to cast their vote. Legal American citizens placed their ballots to make their voice heard above all the white noise of politics. Today, America is deeply rooted into the Two-Party system. This system establishes organization that keeps chaos from claiming this free land. Without this structure that naturally assumed position from the very first election, all citizens would be thrown into disarray, immediately confused by the change. Voting turnouts would consequently decrease drastically, and this “government for the people, by the people” would immediately dismantle. Sustaining our Two-Party system is the only answer in keeping this country working together with a strong, diplomatic
Thus this bitter rematch of the previous election, would realign the political system and give way to the birth of the two-party system that we still hold in place today, destroying America’s dream of a rule by
The two-party system is an essential part of our national government because if “[reinforces] the constitutional framework within which the voter may without peril exercise his freedom of political choice” (pg. 178). Just as the essay, “Toward a More Responsible Two-Party System” emphasized the importance of maintain a two-party
Dating all the way back to 1843, Henry Clay even expresses his concerns with third party candidates stating, “the rise of a third party posed a constant threat to the predictable symmetry of a two-party race” (Wicks 88). Candidates from the Major Parties seem to favor keeping the traditional electoral system strictly two parties. Once a third party candidate is introduced, it disrupts traditional voting patterns. Major party candidates, like Henry Clay, was afraid of the traction and overall support that third party candidates would gain that would ultimately overturn the major party
In the United States political game, third parties face many obstacles. The U.S. has stable two-party systems. The political polarization nature of the system has created two parallel opposing views of the Democrats and the Republicans. During the election, the Democratic and Republican candidates automatically get on the ballot, while minor political parties or third-party candidates usually have to get thousands of signatures on petitions just to be listed on the ballot. In the "winner-take-all" system of election, the party that wins the popular vote attains office while the runner-up does not gain representation.
Even though, originally, George Washington and the framers of our Constitution were against “factions”, political parties soon sprung up over the course of our nation’s history. This is due to the fact that people with the similar beliefs group together, and soon enough, political parties formed and became a staple part of our government in the United States. However, this is not the way it has to be. Political parties are beginning to become irrelevant in the current state of our nation. Now more than ever, political parties are not necessary because they produce an unresponsive government, create little change, and cause internal corruption.
With the banishment of all these parties, each candidate can run independently, and everybody will be given fair recognition. Therefore, a suitable president can be elected, since the public and Electoral College are informed about all candidates and their qualities, not just the Democratic and Republican
Olivia Aydelotte McLennan Community College Federal Government 2305, Fall 2017 Professor Gladden Research Paper 02 Political Parties “In 1796, President George Washington warned the countrymen to shun partisan politics.” Since then, we have had two dominate political parties in the American party system. The two-party system is a political system in which only two parties have a realistic opportunity to compete effectively for control of the government. The same two-party system has been around for ages, just with different forces and alignments. Throughout all of American history five different party systems have impacted our government, to now where we have the two party system of Republicans and Democrats.
This report focuses on the fact that there has been no agreement or consensus on a Democratic Party’s appropriate and most suitable party structure especially the composition. The layout and groups of the party is being debated. A democratic party is aware that it is a form of a coalition party. The changing of the groups which makes up a democratic party has occurred over time, especially after the reforms of 1968. In spite of the changes, there has been no change with regard to the groups making up the coalition.
“Democracy is based on the belief that the effective representation is the basis for citizens to govern themselves. Political parties play a key role in this because they are able to represent different political interests and views in their policies and decisions in government.” ( International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, 2013) In Canada you have the right to vote for who represents you in federal and provincial politics. In order to qualify to vote you must be a Canadian citizen and be at least 18 years of age, you must also be a resident in the electoral district.
Politics by Other Means Response Paper This essay addressed the decrease in voter turnout due to the increase in of political forces over the American political system. The authors of this essay, Politics by Other Means, are Benjamin Ginsberg and Martin Shefter. They commence the essay by stating that voter turnout is low because of political deadlock.
The United States has seen significant changes in the systems of parties and elections over the years. Especially in the composition of party coalitions, the methods and practices used to choose elected officials and partisan conflict. Post 1960 there have been five huge changes in how our system operates. One change would have to do with the media and technology. The second change would be the introduction of the primary system and how it became increasingly popular.
Political parties and party systems are of interest to the scholar of comparative politics because they are constantly in flux. A common understanding of the political party, according to Leon D. Epstein (1967), is of a group that “seeks to elect governmental officeholders under a given label” (p. 9). Party systems are described by the number of parties within a given country during a given time, along with their “internal structures, their ideologies, their respective sizes, alliances, and types of opposition” (Duverger, 1972, p. 18). Party systems can have as few as one major political party, or may have many political parties.
This system is in other countries such as Brazil, India etc. This type of party system is multiple parties who have the chance to gain control of the government. Then in my two ending paragraphs I addressed the judicial review. I explained how the judicial review ensures the law we have here in the united states go by the constitution. The decisions made by the legislative and executive brach get
Then, if you were to vote for a third party, your r preferred effectively-electable candidate, A or B, has a lesser chance of winning the election, meaning there is a greater chance that a candidate you would more greatly dislike is elected and so a vote for a third party is a vote against your own
When one says that electoral systems shape the party system, it must be said with the restraint of understanding that electoral systems do not exist unless selected by partisan entities competing in elections. The opportunity for electoral systems to shape party systems thus arises because of parties’ decisions. If the party system variable of multipartism influences which electoral system is selected, then this raises problems studying the extent to which electoral system variables like disproportionality affect multipartism—this being the endogeneity problem (Benoit 2007). This does not mean that electoral systems do not shape party systems merely because parties select electoral systems. What it does mean is that the extent to which party systems shape electoral systems in return may be relevant to how much influence electoral systems can exert.