2 ms·

2 entrenched parties, first past the post, gerrymandering, etc... idk there's plenty between the US and Switzerland

• barry-cotter 7y ago
  The US system is not exactly perfect but two entrenched parties that actually alternate in power regularly and have very different policies is vast different from a one party state. Japan is a democracy even though the LDP has been in power almost continuously since WWII. The threat of being replaced is enough to make politicians responsive to constituents even if it very rarely actually happens. San Francisco has been governed by Democrats continuously for more than a hundred years. It’s not a one party state. Even the two entrenched parties thing overstates the stability of the US power structure. A European party system with members who choose their candidates is different from the US primary system where anyone can run and unseat an incumbent do has the backing of the party grandees. The Republican Party did not want Trump. The voters chose him. The Democratic Party does not want Sanders. He’s still going to be the Democratic nominee for President. The Tea Party for the Republicans or DSA for the Democrats are instances of the same phenomena. That’s just not possible in a European party system.