we have a 2 party system because we have "Winner Take All, First Past The Post" voting.
FPTP voting will always result in a duopoly because whichever side breaks ranks and goes 3rd party loses _everything_ to whichever side doesn't. Search YouTube and you'll find plenty of videos of varying detail and amusement to explain why a 2 party system is inevitable with FPTP.
As for this election, don't bother with Green. If Green (and Libertarian) are serious they'll form a coalition with each other and all o
Democracy is how you peacefully remove a government
Canadians are culturally closer to Americans than any other people. We also have first past the post. First past the post allows you to vote the government out. If you look at countries like Israel or up until now New Zealand, there are parties that were always part of the coalition government. You could never vote them out because every coalition needed them. In most countries with FPTP there are two dominant parties but also a viable third party.
Canada has a parliamentary system so it's apples and oranges. You have a bunch of small FPtP elections for ministers and then they come together to form a government and appoint a PM. So you can have many smaller parties running for MP and have a coalition government form. Third parties are viable in this scenario because both mainstream parties need them to form a government, so they get a voice even if they aren't the majority.
With the US system, that simply isn't possible on the national level. We do occasionally get third parties winning in smaller races, but I think because of the outsize influence of presidential politics over here, they tend not to do as well.
Honestly I think the best thing that can come out of the past four years would be for the fallout of the Trump presidency to shatter the parties as they stand. The GOP antics seem to be turning off a lot of traditional conservatives, and the Dems have drifted so far to the economic right that they are basically indistinguishable from Reagan Republicans. I'd love to see something like the GOP imploding into a fringe party of Qanon conspiracy theorists, and have the conservatives take over the Dems (they are already halfway there). That would maybe leave room for a viable labour or social democrat party to get some traction here.
green (Score:5, Insightful)
Without Ranked Choice Voting it's pointless (Score:5, Insightful)
FPTP voting will always result in a duopoly because whichever side breaks ranks and goes 3rd party loses _everything_ to whichever side doesn't. Search YouTube and you'll find plenty of videos of varying detail and amusement to explain why a 2 party system is inevitable with FPTP.
As for this election, don't bother with Green. If Green (and Libertarian) are serious they'll form a coalition with each other and all o
FPTP duoploy not necessarily (Score:4, Interesting)
Canadians are culturally closer to Americans than any other people. We also have first past the post. First past the post allows you to vote the government out. If you look at countries like Israel or up until now New Zealand, there are parties that were always part of the coalition government. You could never vote them out because every coalition needed them. In most countries with FPTP there are two dominant parties but also a viable third party.
Re:FPTP duoploy not necessarily (Score:3)
Canada has a parliamentary system so it's apples and oranges. You have a bunch of small FPtP elections for ministers and then they come together to form a government and appoint a PM. So you can have many smaller parties running for MP and have a coalition government form. Third parties are viable in this scenario because both mainstream parties need them to form a government, so they get a voice even if they aren't the majority.
With the US system, that simply isn't possible on the national level. We do occasionally get third parties winning in smaller races, but I think because of the outsize influence of presidential politics over here, they tend not to do as well.
Honestly I think the best thing that can come out of the past four years would be for the fallout of the Trump presidency to shatter the parties as they stand. The GOP antics seem to be turning off a lot of traditional conservatives, and the Dems have drifted so far to the economic right that they are basically indistinguishable from Reagan Republicans. I'd love to see something like the GOP imploding into a fringe party of Qanon conspiracy theorists, and have the conservatives take over the Dems (they are already halfway there). That would maybe leave room for a viable labour or social democrat party to get some traction here.
Re: (Score:2)
That would explain Pelosi's COVID bailout proposal.