shades fills you in

Some background: In the U.S., we have a centuries-old two-party system with power shared between the Democrats and the Republicans. These two parties have won every single presidential election since 1852, and controlled Congress since 1856

Washington and Adams thought a two-party system would destroy our democracy. The Atlantic says their nightmare has become reality

In modern times, most Americans think we need a third party -- a 2021 Gallup poll said 62% of Americans think the two parties don’t represent the people’s interests well enough

So if most people are unhappy with the two parties, why don’t we have real third-party options? WaPo says our voting system is the problem -- the “winner-take-all” structure gives power to the already powerful, mucking competition and screwing over independent candidates

538 says the system forces the two parties to see each other as existential threats, not just people with a different set of opinions. We need collaboration to make this democracy thing work, people!

Foreign Policy Magazine agrees, and goes a step further -- the only way to break the two-party stalemate is to break the system, and build a new one (maybe using proportional representation). Any other half solution is doomed to fail; the vicious cycle is too strong

WaPo also agrees, and has a warning: If America doesn’t end the two-party system ASAP, the authoritarian wing of the Republican Party will destroy our democracy

But not everyone thinks the two-party system is a problem. An Op from The Hill says our current system maximizes political cooperation already -- having more parties would only make polarization worse

Political scientist, Lee Drutman, disagrees. He says multi-party systems work well in Western Europe. There are definitely left/right “blocs”, but parties are free to change their platforms, and new blocs can be built at any time. Polarization is at a minimum!

The conversation says no matter how you feel about it, the two-party system is here to stay -- the major parties have a tight grip on national politics, and the donors and elites who fund them are unlikely to break away to support third parties