4 ms·
> The founders of the constitution hated parties but ended up with the game that leaves only a two party competition. That's hardly a choice, it's a single bit.
by snarf21 3y ago
> The founders of the constitution hated parties but ended up with the game that leaves only a two party competition. That's hardly a choice, it's a single bit.
I've come to believe that the only thing we need to change to have a three party system is to make all votes for bills in Congress to require 70%+. Today things can be passed with 50.00001% which is basically binary. With the required compromise and negotiation, a third party would have power to swing the vote for yea or nea and dilute the power of the duopoly. At first, it might just take form as a caucus until enough power is built to build a proper party with funding for candidates.
I know it is a pipe dream because the powers that be wouldn't want to give up their hammer. I think this is one thing that the founders got wrong. Having to build compromise could be good for everyone in the end.
- jagraff 3y agoDue to the filibuster, most bills require 60 votes (60%) to pass the senate. It hasn’t lead to more cooperation - it’s lead to a paralyzed government that can’t pass good laws.
- dpifke 3y agoA paralyzed government also can't pass bad laws. Considering how rarely laws are repealed, this is arguably a feature, not a bug.
- ianburrell 3y agoA paralyzed government can’t pass required laws. The budget has to be passed every year. That will never happen with supermajority. No new programs, no cuts, just confusing resolutions. The debt ceiling has to be increased occasionally and if you thought recent negotiations were bad, supermajority would be worse. A paralyzed government can’t pass good laws. All the problems in the country that would never get fixed. Current inaction is bad enough, but supermajority would never pass anything except the bland and disasters.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago> The budget has to be passed every year. That will never happen with supermajority. The budgets have been and will continued to be passed, with a sufficient amount of pork-barrel spending. Think of it as an extra cost of running a supermajority system. Plenty of countries have some kind of supermajority system in place.
- HDThoreaun 3y agoWe've seen what happens when laws require a supermajority from the senate. The government moves incredibly slowly and new laws are rarely passed.
- throw0101b 3y ago> I've come to believe that the only thing we need to change to have a three party system is to make all votes for bills in Congress to require 70%+. So tyranny of the minority?