The two-party system should be abolished
Illustration by Madison Little
Ishaan Nandwani, Contributing Writer
Among the many speeches, letters and declarations in American history, there’s one address that I find salient: George Washington’s farewell address of 1796.
In this infamous letter written toward the end of his public service career, Washington offered his political wisdom to the American people. He advocated for a policy of good faith toward all foreign nations, supported the use of religion and morality to promote political prosperity and warned against the formation of political parties — the latter of which he argued would lead to division and despotism, a result of parties seeking revenge and retribution against their opponents.
More than two centuries later, Washington’s fateful prediction has come true. America has become a nation of unprecedented division where party seems to matter more than policy and change.
The presence of political parties in U.S. politics has been devastating for our country. Parties have wrought divisiveness, encouraging citizens to pick a side in a horrifying “game” in which people’s lives are at stake.
There’s also the issue of straight-ticket voting, the practice of voting for candidates from only one party. In the most recent gubernatorial election, countless tweets from political figures read “elect Democrats up and down the ballot.” Many friends of mine voted by their party, without regard for each individual candidate’s views or policies.
This trend of voting by party and having to affiliate yourself solely as being a Democrat or Republican is extremely dangerous, and must come to an end.
As an American citizen, I’m deeply disappointed with our government. Political distrust among Americans is ubiquitous, and it’s not hard to see why. When it comes to our elected officials, we constantly see decisions made that are in the interest of the party, and not the people. For example, in the Senate, it’s rare to have a bipartisan vote — a vote in which members of both major parties vote the same way. When they do occur, it’s typically a few senators who make a stand, but not enough to make a tangible difference.
Voting with sole consideration of a candidate’s political party is thoroughly problematic because the issues that face our nation are multifaceted, and not black and white. Politics is fluid, with many intersections, and there are countless issues that both parties agree on.
Additionally, one might agree with a party on certain issues, but disagree on others. Hypothetically speaking, you can support a woman’s right to choose and believe strongly in the need for strict gun control, but also be pro-capitalist. In that case, you wouldn’t fall strictly under one party or the other — your views would intersect both.
If candidates were to run for elections on individual platforms, Americans would not be pigeonholed into supporting candidates from one party or the other; instead, our decisions would reflect our true values.
Personally, in this previous election, I would have loved to cast my ballot for Princess Blanding, a candidate whose advocacy efforts and pursuit of justice and equality I deeply admire. But in the end, I voted for McAuliffe — because of his affiliation with the Democratic Party, I knew he stood a much better chance of winning.
Therein lies another issue with the two-party system: candidates with unique and innovative ideas that run under a third party have almost no chance to win their election, an unfortunate yet very real truth. They can do a lot of good for our country, but aren’t given the chance. Indeed, as a third-party candidate, Blanding’s efforts during her campaign were not well supported; she was barred from presenting during the debates alongside McAuliffe and Youngkin, receiving significantly less media attention.
More than ever before, our nation is divided. We’ve survived a global pandemic, a reckoning on race like never before and an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, the heart of American democracy. America has been torn asunder by the diverging ideologies of the Democrats and Republicans, and the citizens are the ones who suffer. Party has truly taken priority over the country.
It’s time for our country to put politics aside, and start valuing what really matters: the people. The only way for that to happen is to get rid of the two-party system, once and for all.
US Capital, the heart of American Republic. We are not a democracy. We also survived the Summer of Liberal Insurrection, where over $2 billion was destroyed, 12 police officers killed and hundreds of private businesses destroyed.
You point out the problems with the two-party system. But how do we fix it?
I think the issue with elections in the US is more structural and that resolving those issues would solve most of the issues raised.
The biggest issue is that elections need to be run by independent bodies, not by elected officials. This independent body would not only be responsible for running elections, but also creating, adjusting and abolishing voting districts as required. Gerrymandering leads to non-competitive districts which is a true democracy killer. But won’t politicians appoint partisan “independent” bodies? Most other democracies around the world already have these independent bodies in place and they weren’t political appointments.
My next thought is a bit controversial. Voting should be compulsory for everyone 18 years of age or older, with exceptions being for things like prisoners, non-citizens etc. This immediately changes the motivations of fund raising and laws restricting voting. Fines for not voting would be minimal, even token, so as not to really penalise someone. This is done in other countries and voter turnout is over 90% with informal/spoilt/protest ballots accounting for less than 10% of votes cast.
Lastly, but probably most crucially, is preferential voting where instead of marking your preferred candidate, you put the number 1 next to your preferred candidate. You then put the number 2 next to your next most preferred candidate, number 3 against your third preferred candidate and so on until all candidates have a number next to them. In other countries this creates viable pathways for independent and third party candidates to get elected.
The only way to rectify the plague of poison partisan politics is to restore the constitution back to being the supreme law of the land and begin liquidating and limiting the size, scope, and power of government.
Start by abolishing political parties and the diseased ideology of the living constitution.
Then begin stripping the unconstitutional over-bloated powers of the executive branch of government.’The President has long exercising powers and authority far beyond its own intended role within the framework of constitutional governance.
Abolish party ideologies from the realm of governance and instill harsh consequences upon those who break their oaths to that constitution.
The loyalties of the politician should be to the constitution and nothing else.
The Democratic and Republican Party along with their diseased recycled governance is the greatest repeated failure in American history.
The Democratic and Republican Party are the very embodiment of all thats wrong, rotten, and ruinous in America.
These two diseased ideologies have turned American governance into a wannabe royal fantasyland that has thoroughly abandoned all reality, constitution, and common sense in the name of feeding its own addictions to dollars, denials, and delusions.
The purpose and duty of the US government is to protect the individual rights and liberties of the American people. Instead the American people now have a government that does nothing but trample those rights and liberties.
The only way to restore the balance of power is restore the rule of the constitution and strip the government of the power it doesn’t have.
The bill of rights are inalienable rights given by the creator.
The fact that politicians try to claim otherwise today is completely and utterly sickening. This alone should speak volumes about their criminal intentions.
SCOTUS has inflicted more damage upon the constitution than any other branch of government except the presidency.
The Democratic and Republican Party have well beyond the realm of failure.
SCOTUS has failed to check, balance, protect, and preserve the constitution.
We the people have long been blindly, spitefully, and stupidly recycling the political instruments of our own demise.
When America falls it won’t be by the hands of some terrorist threat or foreign enemy. When America falls it will be by the diseased hands of the country’s own cancerous corrupt criminal government and the two party political tumors growing within that government.