9 ms·

politics is used to divide people in this country, not bring them together. sadly it won't be fixed until we can find some means to secure a third or fourth par

politics is used to divide people in this country, not bring them together. sadly it won't be fixed until we can find some means to secure a third or fourth party's ability to compete but Congress does its best to prevent any money from entering politics which does not support the norm

vgh 9y ago
Neither of the two major presidential candidates last election came anywhere near halfway matching my stances on issues. Yet there was a third party (I guess sort of a fourth) whom I agreed with on quite a few things, as did many others. But those votes got drowned out by the "wasted vote" crowd. I'm curious if any nation has experimented with a hybrid of direct and representative democracies: people choose their stances on actual issues, and the candidate most matching the spirit of society is elected.
- feedjoelpie 9y ago
  Most democracies don't have winner-take-all systems like ours. I would argue as part of the "wasted vote" crowd that this viewpoint is entirely justified given the mechanics of a U.S. presidential election, and that the best any of us can do is take our idealism to a more local level. Parliamentary systems with proportional representation and "coalition" governments exist throughout the world. The U.S. just isn't one of them and would require a big overhaul of the Constitution in order to change that.
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  ... Canada? While there still exists voting along party lines, having more than 2 major parties there tends to be a little more variety in official platforms. Recently, Alberta which is traditionally more conservative voted for a Muslim mayor in Calgary, and the NDP (Canada's socialist democratic party) into provincial office. Even our Green party gained a seat in Victoria/Saanich (British Columbia) last election.

9 ms·

politics is used to divide people in this country, not bring them together. sadly it won't be fixed until we can find some means to secure a third or fourth par

by Shivetya 9y ago

vgh 9y ago
Neither of the two major presidential candidates last election came anywhere near halfway matching my stances on issues. Yet there was a third party (I guess sort of a fourth) whom I agreed with on quite a few things, as did many others. But those votes got drowned out by the "wasted vote" crowd. I'm curious if any nation has experimented with a hybrid of direct and representative democracies: people choose their stances on actual issues, and the candidate most matching the spirit of society is elected.
- feedjoelpie 9y ago
  Most democracies don't have winner-take-all systems like ours. I would argue as part of the "wasted vote" crowd that this viewpoint is entirely justified given the mechanics of a U.S. presidential election, and that the best any of us can do is take our idealism to a more local level. Parliamentary systems with proportional representation and "coalition" governments exist throughout the world. The U.S. just isn't one of them and would require a big overhaul of the Constitution in order to change that.
- 52-6F-62 9y ago
  ... Canada? While there still exists voting along party lines, having more than 2 major parties there tends to be a little more variety in official platforms. Recently, Alberta which is traditionally more conservative voted for a Muslim mayor in Calgary, and the NDP (Canada's socialist democratic party) into provincial office. Even our Green party gained a seat in Victoria/Saanich (British Columbia) last election.