> Imagine a democratic political system in which no one is allowed to be a member of a political party. How would things be different? In many municipalities,

> Imagine a democratic political system in which no one is allowed to be a member of a political party. How would things be different? In many municipalities, this is how it works - all elections are non-partisan, and setting up non-party slates is similarly prohibited. What happens? Councilors are still widely known as being part of the left-wing/right-wing/Conservative/Liberal/Labour factions of council, and form as-hoc groups once elected accordingly. Low-information voters - the people who would vote straight-ticket one way or the other in a partisan race - tend to pick a single issue and vote for whichever candidate identifies with that particular one. One of the benefits (and I accept that this being a benefit may be controversial) of a party system is that it makes it easier to participate in the process for low- and medium-information voters. If you're super-involved, I salute you - and you're more than welcome to do a detailed analysis of the candidates and their positions, and pick whichever one appeals most to you. If you're not that involved, you can pick the party that broadly represents your values, and be confident that the local guy you'd end up voting for backs those positions (for the most part) and will help move them forwards. It means that someone who can't/won't spend an hour an evening reading up on the horse-race has a way to contribute to the electoral process at a level of confidence higher than "well, this guy is listed first on the ballot."