3 ms·

Isn't a strong central government one of the reasons we only have 2 parties? Aiming to control the national government is the only reason to have a party that

• kelnos 5y ago
  I don't think so. Many other countries have strong central governments and more than two political parties. I think the way they make that work is that parties generally don't amass majority power, but they form coalitions in order to gain control. My take on it is that our voting system is what leads to two parties. Something that allows people to vote their conscience rather than having to strategically vote for the lesser of two evils, like ranked-choice voting or approval voting, could allow more parties to win representation at the national level.
• int_19h 5y ago
  US had a two-party system pretty much since its inception - the two major parties changed over time, but the basic premise (that third party competitors are generally non-viable) holds. The reason why US only has 2 parties is because its electoral system is first-past-the-post, and all legislative districts are single-member. The moment it switches to something like, say, MMP, I'm certain that the existing parties will disintegrate across factional lines.