Why So Many Americans Hate Political Events

Just two political parties have long dominated theAmerican government. The two party system, at least on the surface, hasbeen dominant in American politics since the Civil War. It makes good sense for young people to ask, “Isthis the way it has to be? Can't we do better than this?” The 117th Congress had just two independentmembers in the Senate who both caucus with the Democrats. The only game in town are the two major parties. A study in 2022 found that nearly four in tenAmericans wish for more political parties.

America is a diverse country of 330 millionpeople. The idea that Americans would neatly fit intojust two political parties is absolutely bonkers. We saw a huge uptick in support and interest in2016 when Gary Johnson ran for president. Over the past, I'd say a couple ofyears, we've seen a lot of that support translate into grassroots support where people are not justchecking a box every four years, right? They're actually wanting to get engaged and getinvolved at the local level. When we get put into two teams competing for ourresources, we engage in high levels of demonization. When there's more sides and more possiblecoalitions, we can govern ourselves much more.

Successfully. But that's not as easy as it sounds. There's structural obstacles as far as building uptheir campaign finance apparatus, getting on the ballot, getting included in debates. There's a role for third parties in our system. But generally speaking, if you have too many, youcan end up with a very incoherent, hard-to-control politics. And in that case, votersget very upset because then they feel like really nobody is listening to them. So should the U.S.

Consider moving on from a two-party system? And what kind of changes would it bring? For the majority of elections, the United Statesrelies on what's called a single-member district plurality system, where just one winner with amajority of voters wins the election. Experts say this winner-takes-all approach toelections is the main reason why two parties dominate in America. The reason that we have just two parties is notbecause Americans want only two parties, it's because we have an electoral system that punishesand marginalizes third parties. If you only allow for one winner, essentiallythese gravitational forces start to emerge.

And those forces dictate that because there'sonly one winner, a rational person is going to pick between two choices and elites who fundthose candidates are not going to spend money on a long shot. But more Americans are expressing frustrationswith their two main parties. In 2022, 61% of U.S. adults found the Republican Party unfavorable,while 57% shared the same sentiment toward the Democratic Party. About a quarter of Americans today say they havean unfavorable view of both major parties, a considerable jump from just 6% in 1994.

A lot of people would suggest that both partiesaren't quite sure where they want to go and what they want to do next. Many Republicans are troubled by the course thatthe Republican Party has taken as Donald Trump has come to dominate the Republican Partywith his distinctive brand of populism and election denialism. On the other hand, many Americans arediscontented with the turn to the left of the Democratic Party, particularly on culturalissues. Voters in both parties are also growing morehostile towards one another. 62% of Republicans and 54% of Democrats havehighly negative views of the opposing party,.

Compared to just 21% and 17% in 1994. In order for democracy to continue, politicalparties need to be able to lose elections. But if we are in a situation in which one partybelieves that the other party winning the election would be so disastrousto the country that maybe we should intervene to prevent the other party fromwinning, then you don't really have a democracy anymore. 56% of Americans today believe that the currentparties do such a poor job that a third major party is needed. The sentiment is especially prevalent amongyounger adults and independents.

We have been seeing a lot more support from youngadults and people who are more politically homeless, as we call them, people who areindependent. This has not been a great period for the two-party system. We've had real setbacks overseas. We've had real setbacks at home. So from that standpoint, it makes good sense foryoung people to ask, “Is this the way it has to be? Can't we do better than this?” In response, certain minor parties have beenproviding an alternative to the bipartisan.

Dysfunction in America. Well, if you're sick of Democrats and Republicans,there's another option coming your way. A new third political party in America calledForward. The co-chairs? One Republican, one Democrat. This is the bringing together of left, right, andmiddle. It actually celebrates pluralism. Among them, the Libertarian Party is currently the third-largest political party in America, withmore than 310 elected officials as of November.

2022. My name is Angela McArdle, and I am the nationalchair of the Libertarian Party. We are really all about personal and economicfreedom. We want peaceful people to be able to do whateverthey need to do to get by in life, to be happy, to be healthy, to be prosperous, and to thrive. We've got over 17,000 members. Just a third of Americans today believe that thetwo existing parties do an adequate job of representing the American people, compared tomore than half back in 2003. A really fundamental part of a democracy is thatpeople feel like they have a meaningful choice,.

And that's not so much the case if you feel like,in a two-party system that's really polarized, there's only one option you would ever vote for. I don't think that two parties that areessentially captured by what a lot of people call the deep state or political establishment canever represent everyone's interest, because I think they represent their own interests. And to a certain extent, I don't even blame them. They're incentivized to do that, to keep theirjobs, to stay in power, and to grow their monolith. If we had more parties, it would be less of a kindof zero-sum competition between the Republicans.

And the Democrats. You have less of an incentiveif, as one party or another, to kind of tear down the other party if that didn't automaticallytranslate to a gain for your side. Incorporating more voices could not only help withpolarization but participation as well. Voter turnout in the U.S. has long been below average compared to otherdeveloped countries. A multi-party system with viable third partieswould bring people back into the process, back into the discussion, and make it a lot harder tosay, “Well, government sucks, I'm not going to participate.” And now we're having a conversationbetween only half of the country, which is really dangerous.

A big obstacle for minor parties is funding. President Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaignraised a little over $1 billion, while President Donald Trump raised more than $700 million. In comparison, libertarian presidential candidateJoe Jorgensen was only able to raise close to $3 million in the same year. The two established parties have longstandingbases of not only of voters but also of funders. The discrepancy is really large, and I think it'sbecause people find that there's a lot at stake. And so people are incentivized to hold on topositions of power and to pump and dump as much.

Money as they possibly can into major elections. If you don't raise enough money to get yourpresence well-known, to get your candidate or candidates well-known, then you won't have theimpact you want, even if in principle you have a strong case to make and strong candidates topresent. But given the current political climate, someexperts are hopeful that more minor parties could rise to prominence. The discontent with the two-party system is mostlikely to express itself when there is discontent with the presidential nominees ofthe two major political parties. I think it's a clear solution to many of theproblems that we complain about in our democracy.

And many of the problems that are reallythreatening the foundations of our democracy and make so much sense that it's hard for me to seehow it won't eventually become the new way in which we do politics in this country. But not everyone shares the same optimism. The likelihood of a third party appearing for asustained period of time is probably fairly small. There's structural obstacles as far as building uptheir campaign finance apparatus, getting on the ballot, and getting included in debates. The two parties having become so dominant as amechanical result of these rules, have designed a political system that supports two parties.

So there's institutional lock-in taking place aswell. New York, for example, raised the signaturegathering requirements for third parties to an obscene, absurd amount. You've got to collect like 45,000 signatures thatall have to be perfectly verified within six weeks. Our gubernatorial candidate, Larry Sharp,really worked so hard and he turned in what we believe are the right amountof signatures and the state still threw it out. The New York State Board of Elections told CNBCthat Mr. Sharpe's campaign submitted a petition thatstated on its face that it did not contain the required number of signatures.

They also added that the number of signaturesrequired has been revisited and adjusted after years of not being evaluated. The two-party system has some advantages of itsown. One of the big advantages of having a two-party system is that it's almost always the case that people are being represented in some way. When you have two parties in our system, it ishard to move things forward. Now, on one hand, you can say, “Well,Washington's not getting anything done” and that's fair. On the other hand, you can say, “Well, halfof Americans don't want to see this get done.” So policy cannot be rammed through.

Whereas in many other systems, particularlyparliamentary systems in Europe, if three parties get together, they can run the table andtransform a country in two years. That can be really good if they make gooddecisions. That can be really bad if they upset 40% of thepopulation. Having just two parties to choose from could alsohelp prevent more extreme political polarization. The two parties have been very broad. They've incorporated really diverseconstituencies across all sorts of dimensions: urban and rural, north and south, different kindsof religions, ethnicities, etc,. and that that sort of dynamic can moderateparties.

We don't have an American Nazi party with seats ingovernment. You see that in Europe. We don't have a far left, “animals must be protected at all costs and are important as human beings” party here. You would see those ideas represented meaningfullyand sometimes in coalitions in European government. Even without winning many major elections, minorparties today still play a vital role in the political ecosystem. Throughout U.S. history, smaller parties haveraised issues that the major parties were.

Ignoring. They've mobilized groups of voters whothe major parties have been ignoring. Third parties have been the catalystsof new ideas and new ways of doing politics throughout US history. This is one of the historic functions of thirdparties, enhance the incentives of one or both of the existing major political parties to competefor the voters who have deserted in favor of a third party. Against growing discontent, the two parties can dojust one thing to prove themselves to their voters: good governance. Looking at the past 20 years, although you canlist progress in a number of areas, the balance.

Sheet I think has not been that great. And so the two-party system is strong in theUnited States when American citizens believe that the two parties either working with each other oragainst each other, have somehow managed to produce good government, and good government hasbeen undersupplied. My main advice for people, if they're not happywith the two parties, is to find whichever one of their local parties they feel closest to andreally get involved in that party and shape its perspective whether they want to see itbe more moderate or more ideological, just more active. You've got to start somewhere. And that's really the place where people can havethe most kind of personal influence to really do.

Something and to really think about representingthe concerns of people like them.

Sharing is caring!