The U.S. has only 2 major political parties, Democrats & Republicans Essay

The U.S. has only 2 major political parties, Democrats & Republicans. While there are a number of smaller parties, only those 2 - Essay Example This paper shall consider the strengths and the weaknesses of this two-party system in America. It shall also consider why this is the case and whether or not such system is good or bad for the country. This essay is being undertaken in order to establish a comprehensive and academic discussion of the issue while considering all the relevant elements which impact on the governance and politics of this country. Discussion America’s history has had a major influence on its current two-party system. As was mentioned, this system traces its roots back to the American Civil War when the Federalists and the anti-federalists were at opposite ends of the political continuum. From then on, although its application has not been as extreme as was seen during the years preceding and those following the civil war, the two-party system became the dominant political belief system of the US. The people widely accepted this system and as years, many elections, and political regimes passed, cha nging such system became an unthinkable consideration (Wood and Sansone, 2000). The belief system in the US has also been largely shared and supported by the people. Where other countries have a wider range of beliefs with more disagreements in between, America has mostly considered two major parties. These parties were considered in the elections, but it has not negated the existence of other viewpoints. â€Å"The broad ideological consensus in the United States encouraged just two large parties – with overlapping points of view-whose main focus is to win elections, not to represent vastly different sets of beliefs† (Wood and Sansone, 2000). The two-party system has been the norm in the United States because its electoral system has been traditionally run as a winner-take-all system, not so much a proportional representation system (Janda, Berry, and Goldman, 2008). In this case, the winner is the candidate who gets the most number of votes, not the candidate who wins the majority vote. In the elections, one person can represent people within a small area or district and no matter how many representatives run, the candidate with the most number of votes still wins (Janda, Berry, and Goldman, 2008). For parties with smaller members and supporters, they often end up losing the elections and have a hard time making any kind of difference in the electoral process. Third parties have tried to penetrate the two-party system in the US, however, only few have made any lasting impact on the political system. The winner-take-all system has mostly left them no chance at winning any seat in the elections (Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes, 2008). These parties have included the Free Soil party, the Know Nothings, the Liberty party, the Greenback party, the Populists, and similar minimal and almost inconsequential parties (Wood and Sansone, 2000). Other democratic nations have allowed as many candidates to run for office, and as many of them who win proportional votes can later be considered as representatives in office. In the United States however, these various interest groups and candidates have been encouraged to â€Å"work within the two major parties, for only one candidate in each race stands a chance of being elected under popular voting† (Janda, Berry, and Goodman, 2008, p. 245). This political system has worked well for the United States since it has ushered in many