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The theory of a two-party system is vastly inferior to simply voting for a person based on his or her merits, and is also inferior to having several parties, who would more accurately represent one complete worldview. The reality of American civic life, however, is that we need two generalized parties.

In reality, most people spend most of their time doing non-political things.

I know, with minimal research, what a candidate in the Republican Party stands for (or at least will vote for). I know the Democratic stances on abortion, The war in Iraq, and the environment. If I want to learn more about these issues, that option exists. If I am committed to an opinion, however, I don't have to waste time or worse, not vote, because I was busy. And we all are busy in America.

The other side of this is: dichotomy & categorization is natural. We all put people in mental categories, and usually contrast two things. The two-party system gives the candidates some control over the categories they are put in. While this makes normally sane people politicize non-partisan issues on occasion (fighting over whether a private business can limit its inventory on moral grounds, for example), and can unfairly lump people (all Democrats are anti-military, all Republicans are racist), it generally works. I will admit that people who listen only to their party's rhetoric can end up believing the darndest things; things like moral equivalence between a suicide bomber and me (the left), or equating illegal immigration with any immigration (the right).

These simple-minded people only strengthen the argument for a two-party system, however, since they generally end up voting for a sane candidate when they finally reach the poles.

Lastly, those of us who pay attention still evaluate the people, and not only the party they belong to.

Early in our nation's history, President George Washington lamented the forming of the two-party system. His intelligent and aristocratic leadership had helped form a country; he had directed the construction of a nation and, at the end, willingly relinquished control of it. He did not want to see it run by those who were not so altruistic or balanced. I lament with him, but it is grief for a dream. We cannot all be Washington. We did not all fight and earn our status, and yet we vote. The two-party system is an American necessity, the worst system out there, except for all the other ones.

Learn more about this author, Michael Isaacson.
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