Two Party System Essay

652 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: American two party political system

Most democratic countries have more than one political party, but The United States seems to still have just two dominating ones. Minor parties have always have a tough time trying making it onto ballots, being recognized on a grand scale like democrats and republicans, or even making it to the white house. While there are some advantages to having a two-party system such as simplicity, There seems to be more disadvantages that comes with it such as the self-perpetuating cycle that allows the two parties to continuously reign over all others. A gross oversimplification is that there were initially the federalists and the anti-federalists. Perishing with Alexander Hamilton were the anti-federalists, and the failure of John Adams as a president went the federalists (Engel). The democrats and the republicans sprouted up and took place of everything. A candidate can win by gaining a plurality, which is more votes than the other candidate. This is a winner-takes-all system, simply because second place doesn’t reap any rewards. That is why parties aim to be as big as possible. The electoral rules favor a two-party system, which is why …show more content…

Such stability is thought to promote economic growth. Another advantage is moderation. Both democrats and republicans must appeal midway, resulting in finding common ground on positions on many issues and gaining large amounts of voters in the process. Both dominating parties in the US are encouraged to stay somewhat moderate, which keeps either side from swingeing majorly conservative or liberal. The simplicity of having just two parties is considered an advantage to some. Voters only have to choose between two parties most of the time. It is said that there is more harmony and less unruliness with two parties as opposed to multiparty systems (Shmoop). Hung legislators are common with multiparty systems, as opposed to just having two

Show More
Related

  • Polital Division Between the Federalists and the Republicans

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although national political parties were considered “divisive and disloyal”, the first two-party system of the United States, Hamiltonian-Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans, emerged during George Washington’s administration. The political division was later sharpened with Jay’s Treaty. They differ from each other in various aspects. Nevertheless, the political turbulent during the 1790s greatly expanded the public sphere.

    Read More

  • The Day The 60's Died Analysis

    1788 Words  | 4 Pages

    American democracy is fluid; it is constantly evolving and changing. The earliest divide in American politics stems from the very establishment of the government. Regardless of the hope the American founders possessed, political parties began to form almost immediately as the country began to take shape. Today, the two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans, however each party was not always the same at their start as they are currently.

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of A Divided Government

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    When a country only has a one party government, there is only one outcome for every situation. With a divided government, there can be multiple outcomes. What that one party says, goes even if their decision is wrong and ends up hurting the people and country. They may look at certain situations or problems but never really get past them because they feel that nothing appears to be wrong with the way they are doing things. Having a divided government adds much needed insight to certain problems. Divided government is a good thing because each side can meet in the middle and create an atmosphere of cooperation and compromise that will approve legislation which will appeal to the middle and moderate Americans rather than the extremes. In a divided government, each party serves as a watch dog for the other, ensuring that one side does not become stronger than the other. Having these checks and balances ensures that one side does not turn into a tyrannical form of government since the different branches of government have to check on one another, each party has a way of stalling the efforts of the other party. This division also increases the chance of an opposing voice, promotes debates between the two sides and provides a more effective oversight on the executive

    Read More

  • Political Parties in George Washington's Cabinet

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Federalists were in favor of a strong central government, while the anti-federalists opposed most of their ideas. Over time, the gradual development of political parties resulted in the Democrat and Republican parties we have today. The Whiskey Rebellion and the differences between the Federalists and Antifederalists were a couple of the main causes that led to the rise of political parties in the 1790’s. The conflict between the Antifederalists and the Federalists had a tremendous impact on the formation of political parties. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton were both members of President George Washington's Cabinet, but had completely different views on politics.

    Read More

  • The Inevitable Two-Party System in the U.S.

    1535 Words  | 4 Pages

    Was the formation of a two-party system in America inevitable? Despite George Washington’s warnings of the drawbacks in his farewell address, America continued on its path, and the system was established anyway. The emergence of a two-party system was inevitable in the United States for many reasons. One reason for the two party systems that formed were simply common issues of the day. This included the issue of federal power versus state power, which dominated American politics during the 1700s. America was also quite polar, meaning different regions tended to have different views and opinions from the others. Political parties often appealed to specific regions. Matters of the day were very influential on the types of political parties present in America, who tended to form around issues, rather than issues being assigned to them like in present day politics.

    Read More

  • Jeffersonian Republicans Vs. Federalists

    1170 Words  | 3 Pages

    As the young colonies of America broke away from their mother country and began to grow and develop into an effective democratic nation, many changes occurred. As the democracy began to grow, two main political parties developed, the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists.      Each party had different views on how the government should be run. The Jeffersonian Republicans believed in strong state governments, a weak central government, and a strict construction of the Constitution. The Federalists opted for a powerful central government with weaker state governments, and a loose interpretation of the Constitution. Throughout the years, the political parties have grown, developed, and even dispersed into totally new factions. Many of the inconsistencies and changes can be noted throughout the presidencies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

    Read More

  • Essay On Partisan Elections

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this essay, I will explain why Texas should retain the partisan election of judges. Texas is one of the few states that elect their judges using a Partisan voting method. Partisan elections can be unfair and can misinform the voter. A high legal position such as a judge should never be chosen in such a manner. Partisan elections often cost more than nonpartisan elections in campaigning. Partisan elections are also more likely to lead to straight ticket voting or mindless voting. Partisan elections also lead to more campaign contributions and can increase the power of constituencies. Lastly partisan elections can cause an imbalance in equal represent the population. Therefore, Partisanship voting does not belong in the courts of Texas and

    Read More

  • Political Parties In The 1790s

    1746 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the 1790s, soon after the ratification of the Constitution, political parties were nonexistent in the USA because President Washington feared they would drive the country apart. However, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, with their rivalling mental models, could not help but spark the division of the United States into the Democratic-Republican and Federalist parties. These parties, the Democratic-Republican wanting a small, local government system and the Federalist wanting a strong, powerful government system, turned citizens against one another and eventually led to the inimical Democratic and Republican parties of today. Hence, the formation of the original political parties in the United States is very significant. Political

    Read More

  • Advantages And Disadvantages Of Canada's Electoral System

    1328 Words  | 3 Pages

    The authors describe some of the advantages of a MMP system: “Mixed electoral systems provide fairly proportional outcomes, maintain the geographic link between constituents and members, provide for greater choice, and allow the opportunity for smaller parties to represented in Parliament” (p. 11). This system works better than the current FPTP or plurality system, because it allows citizen’s a second opportunity to have a voice. This is important because it would allow our minority groups to have a greater political influence. As mentioned earlier, in the current system all votes for candidates who lost, were insignificant to the election outcome. The authors explain: “Only those votes that go to the eventual winner count towards electing a representative, which may discourage people from voting or promote disaffection with the system” (p. 3). Alternatively, the MMP system allows citizen’s a second opportunity to elect party members in order to proportionally represent the popular

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Democrat And Republican Parties

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today's day in age, the Democratic and Republican parties seem to be completely diverse. These two parties have completely opposing views on topics ranging from social issues, health care, tax policy, labor and free trade, foreign policy, crime and capital punishment, energy and environmental issues, and even education. Once upon a time however, these two groups were not as polarized as they have become. Both were once a single party known as the Democratic-Republican Party, formed by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in 1791. This sole party favored the idea of a decentralized, democratic government. They despised the idea of the U.S government becoming anything similar to England's monarchy system at the time. They also supported states’ rights as well as the literal and strict interpretation of the U.S Constitution. The group's purpose was to stand against the Federalists who were

    Read More

  • The United States' Two-Party System

    525 Words  | 2 Pages

    A two-party system is a political system in which only two parties have a realistic opportunity to compete effectively for control. As a result, all, or nearly all, elected officials end up being a member in one of the two major parties. In a two-party system, one of the parties usually holds a majority in the legislature hence, being referred to as the majority party while the other party is the minority party. The United States of America is considered to be a two-party system. A two-party system emerged early in the history of the new Republic. Beginning with the Federalists and the Jeffersonian Republicans in the late 1780s, two major parties have dominated national politics, although which particular two parties has changed with the times and issues. During the nineteenth century, the Democrats and Republicans emerged as the two dominant parties in American politics. As the American party system evolved, many third parties emerged, but few of them remained in existence for very long. Today the Democrats and Republican still remain as the dominant parties. These two parties hav...

    Read More

  • The Two Party System of UK

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    middle of paper ... ... d therefore the smaller parties can be considered to have very little effect on the overall political situation. In conclusion, the UK can still best be described as a two party system, provided two considerations are taken into account. The first is that Conservative dominance victories between 1979-97 was not a suggestion of party dominance and that eventually, the swing of the political pendulum will be even for both sides. This can perhaps be seen today with Labour's two landslide victories in 1997 and 2001.

    Read More

  • Understanding the US Constitution: A Contractual Perspective

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Federalist’s beliefs were to have a strong central government, which is today can be considered as the Democratic Party. Then the Anti-Federalist’s beliefs were to have a strong state government, which in this case is considered to be today’s Republican Party. No matter what type of names they had or have, their beliefs are considered to be the groups involved in this contract. So there is a party that wanted a strong national liberal government and the other party who believe in a strong state conservative party. At the end, no matter in what era, there were always two sides for this contract.

    Read More

  • Fundamentalists Vs Federalists

    228 Words  | 1 Pages

    The main differences between the two parties (Federalists and the Antifederalist) are that Federalist were instrumental in shaping the Us Constitution, and the Antifederalist opposed the ratification. Federalists wanted more power, they wanted a strong central government. Antifederalists wanted power in the states not in the government. The federalist were making something in the year of 1787, wanting to shape the Constitution, that was in favor of the central government, they were giving more power to them, and that was what the Antifederalist did not wanted to happen. But the Antifederalist opposed the ratification of the United States Constitution, they never organized efficiently across all thirteen states. They had a great success, and

    Read More

  • A Comparison of UK and US Political Parties

    959 Words  | 2 Pages

    The US has a two party system in which two parties dominate in the US

    Read More

More about Two Party System Essay

Open Document