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"The Ridiculousness of the American Two-Party System"

Virtually no other country in the world has such a narrow political spectrum as the United States. Perhaps this is due to history; right before and during the revolution, the populace of the colonies was divided between loyalists and those who favored independence. Once the colonies won their freedom, those in the legislative became divided between Federalists and anti-federalists. Before Abraham Lincoln, there was the Democratic and Whigs; Lincoln became instrumental in creating the Republican party before his election and strengthening it afterwards, essentially splintering the Whig party. After that the democrats and republicans, engaged in such decisive battles as reconstruction, civil rights and the power of the federal government, became the two dominant political parties in the U.S. and have remained so. There were strong third parties over the years, such as the Progressives, but no third party has ever rivaled the power wheeled by either the GOP or the democrats. Consider that since Lincoln, every President has been either a republican or democrat. Senators, Congressmen, Governors and local officals have occasionally been elected from parties other than the two major, but essentially we are a two-party country. What does this mean? First, it means the shifting of political power has become cyclical. After FDR, the republicans and democrats swapped power almost every 8 years or so. (The exceptions being George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter who were the only two elected Presidents to not be elected to a second term; JFK was killed before he completed his first full term, Nixon was forced the resign before completing his second term and Ford was denied a first elected term). Since both parties stand in opposition to most ideas, this constant power struggle means that change, real change is next to impossible. The moment one party looses control of the House, the Senate, or The Presidency, or any combination of the three, the new majority works to undercut and reverse what the previous administration or legislative had done. And the have a limited amount of time to do it in. Recently, the Republicans controlled Congress from 2002 until 2006; as soon as the democrats gained control, they quickly made it their priority to reverse what they saw were the errors of the previous republican congress. Right or wrong, this constant back and forth, not just in who has the majority, but on issues and policies

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