by Jorge Moliere

Created on: May 20, 2008

Our electoral system is simply not conducive to having more than two parties (like most other single-member district plurality ((SMDP)) countries). If the United States were a European country that has a proportional representational system, we would have several different parties. This is known in the political science world as Duverger's Law. A multi-party system would not work in the United States behaviorally. Voters are turned off by third parties due to political efficacy; they feel that voting for a third-party candidate would be the same as throwing their vote away. Furthermore, many voters are guilty of straight-ticket voting. They don't know about the issues or the candidates' stances on the issues, but simply go down the line voting for their preferred party. These practices have shaped the way political parties rally the constituents and, overall, how they act when elected.

But does a two-party system limit US politics? I don't believe so. Sure, the United States does only have two strong parties. However, history has shown that a party can evolve, or even replaced. The United States did not begin with the Democrats and the Republicans (in fact, the Republican Party did not emerge until the mid-1800's), and with the United States still being relatively young-these two parties may become inconsequential within this century. In the United Kingdom, the Social Democratic Party and the Liberal Party recently merged into the Liberal Democrats.
Furthermore, two-party systems have proven to be more efficient than their multi-party counterparts. Even less would get done if there were more parties than just the Republicans and Democrats fighting it out. Proportional representation also often leads to a geographical division. Our electoral college seems to do enough of that, and proportional representation would only worsen the effects.

The United States' two-party system may cause some of the constituents to feel ostracized or left out, but that's why we have interest groups and lobbyists. And every political scientist knows that they hold the money, which means they hold the power.
Additionally, voting for third-party candidates tells the two main parties something, causing them to rethink their platforms. It is not the two-party system that limits the United States, but the constituents' low voter turnout, straight-ticket voting, and lack of knowledge concerning politics.

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