4 ms·

This list misses the biggest problem of them all. The two party system with entrenched interests that just don't reflect the population. In many other countrie

This list misses the biggest problem of them all. The two party system with entrenched interests that just don't reflect the population. In many other countries, parties are routinely bootstrapped from the ground up and the big dogs need to form alliances for majorities. This also has it's flaws but also solves many problems. Imagine crooks from Republican led state governments gerrymandering North Carolina but ultimately losing majority vote to Outer banks party because the entrenched ruling party don't give fucks about the outer banks flooding due to climate change.

specialist 6y ago
A more constructive way to restate your points might be: FPTP begats a two-party system (cite Duverger's Law) and we need something like ranked choice voting (RCV) for executive positions to make our representation more democratic. Our current system of redistricting is also problematic. (We now call politicians picking their voters instead of voters picking their politicians "gerrymandering".) We can largely moot this problem with something like Proportional Representation (PR) for assemblies.
dkdk8283 6y ago
If democrats were ok with guns and republicans ok with abortion we could get a lot more done.
- nine_zeros 6y ago
  But that's the point about two party systems. You are asking people to be ok with things that they might feel strongly against. With a multi-party system, the focus goes away from these extremes to things that actually affect the congressional district. This, when used with representational electoral college (aka, not first past the post in a state), pretty much forces all the parties to moderate down on everything. It becomes very hard to have extremist positions.
  - dkdk8283 6y ago
    I believe these two issues I cited can no longer be discussed logically. How can either side proceed without objective discussion of the issue? What if I’m pro abortion and pro gun? Does that mean I’m held back by party affiliation?
    - nine_zeros 6y ago
      By supporting a 3rd party that could potentially support both of these. Also, voters are more fluid than you think. See: Evangelical christians supporting lying, cheating and womanizing Trump.
rsynnott 6y ago
> In many other countries, parties are routinely bootstrapped from the ground up and the big dogs need to form alliances for majorities. That's essentially a function of the electoral system, though. The US system more or less makes a two-party system inevitable.

specialist 6y ago

A more constructive way to restate your points might be: FPTP begats a two-party system (cite Duverger's Law) and we need something like ranked choice voting (RCV) for executive positions to make our representation more democratic. Our current system of redistricting is also problematic. (We now call politicians picking their voters instead of voters picking their politicians "gerrymandering".) We can largely moot this problem with something like Proportional Representation (PR) for assemblies.

dkdk8283 6y ago

If democrats were ok with guns and republicans ok with abortion we could get a lot more done.

nine_zeros 6y ago
But that's the point about two party systems. You are asking people to be ok with things that they might feel strongly against. With a multi-party system, the focus goes away from these extremes to things that actually affect the congressional district. This, when used with representational electoral college (aka, not first past the post in a state), pretty much forces all the parties to moderate down on everything. It becomes very hard to have extremist positions.
- dkdk8283 6y ago
  I believe these two issues I cited can no longer be discussed logically. How can either side proceed without objective discussion of the issue? What if I’m pro abortion and pro gun? Does that mean I’m held back by party affiliation?
  - nine_zeros 6y ago
    By supporting a 3rd party that could potentially support both of these. Also, voters are more fluid than you think. See: Evangelical christians supporting lying, cheating and womanizing Trump.

rsynnott 6y ago

> In many other countries, parties are routinely bootstrapped from the ground up and the big dogs need to form alliances for majorities. That's essentially a function of the electoral system, though. The US system more or less makes a two-party system inevitable.