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[QUOTE]Originally posted by MinutiaeMan: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Sol System: [QB]That doesn't really explain why the U.S. is dualistic, though.[/QUOTE]Of course it doesn't. That would require several volumes of political science textbooks, which I don't have the time to research and transcribe right now. :p But seriously, I think the reason why no truly viable third parties have developed is because since the 1890's or so, there've been various campaign laws enacted concerning funding, recognition, and so forth. I'd think that there's no real "conspiracy" per se, but basically, it's become very, very hard for any party other than the Democrats and the Republicans to get elected. Among other things, the finance laws automatically funnel plenty of Federal funding into the two main parties each year (for elections, really), while the third parties are under incredible pressure to first get recognition -- meaning create enough awareness of their party and their platform and gather several thousand petition signees -- and THEN try to gain enough support to get at least a tiny fraction of the Federal funding that the big parties get. And as I understand it, all this basically has to be done inside the four-year election cycle, or else it has to be started again. Meaning that it's very difficult for parties to just slowly build a presence, since they've got to get big results right away -- and that rarely happens. I'm not sure how accurate all this is -- I'm a History major, not PoliSci. But I have taken a few GoPo classes (GOvernment and POlitics) in my time. Got a "5" on the AP GoPo exam my senior year of high school, but that was four years ago. ;) [QUOTE]The Republicans and Democrats are remarkably skilled at co-option, to such a degree that to claim that they really only represent two points of view is misleading.[/QUOTE]So true. After all, most political compasses out there have the FOUR major points -- fiscal conservative, fiscal liberal, social conservative, social liberal. From what I remember in my GoPo class, many (or most) people are conservative in one realm and liberal in the other (e.g. a financial conservative but a social liberal). I remember reading some very interesting arguments in a class I took about three years ago in college. One of the big arguments against the current American political system was that there was just one representative for each election district. Not only did this lead to huge redistricting fights and gerrymandering (see Texas for the latest example, or North Carolina for a classic example), but it also can easily fail to represent a RANGE of opinions inside a district by having a "winner take all" system. What that book I read argued for instead was an "at large" system where there would be three or five representatives for each (enlarged) district, elected simultaneously. It people would vote for multiple candidates, basically. (Probably like how everyone's old high school Student Council elections were run, I'd bet.) Is this Flameboard material yet? I'll wager two strips of latinum it'll happen before the end of the second page. ;) [/QB][/QUOTE]
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