America Needs A Multiparty System
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Politics and Activism

America Needs A Multiparty System

This may save the republic.

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America Needs A Multiparty System
Jacques Louis-David a la Louvre



The day of the game has arrived! People are wearing red for one team, and blue for the other. Nothing important is at stake, its just fun. Which team will win?

Oh, I love my team so much I hope they do. Let's get some snacks and enjoy the game.
"My team is better than your team!" One person declares while throwing popcorn at the screen, "Oh really?? Well its the end of the world if my team doesn't win!" another person replies.

These attitude is perfectly alright when it comes to sports, but when it reaches into politics then we have a problem, dear citizen.

The story is familiar.. back when Obama and the Democrats controlled all three branches of the government, massive protests broke out. Words like "constitutional crises" appeared, and "we are loosing democracy!" were accompanied by signs saying "Obama is a socialist!" or "Obama is a communist!"
Consequently, within 2 years during the midterm elections the people took to the polls and elected Republicans in the House, and in 2012 they took the Senate.

This was done through massive grassroots networks that accompanied the protests.

2016, the stage is set again and looks identical to 2008. The party not in power is claiming "constitutional crises!" and wants to take the House in 2018.

Is this an inevitable game of ping-pong between the parties? Or do other countries have a system that works differently?

Instead of saying- "well things have always been this way!" Lets find a way to change this and make it better off for all of us.

"The Republicans are obstructing Obama!"
"the Democrats are obstructing Trump!"
"Oh both parties are messed up, I want nothing to do with politics!"

and the arguing goes on...

Party A: Controls Three Branches of Government
The People: Protest!
Midterm elections come and Party B takes the Legislative Branch of government.


A new president comes in and belongs to Party B, Party B in turn does the exact thing party A did and activists from Party A find a way to reclaim the Legislative Branch.

I'm arguing for a new system of representation. Our system has a lot of good in it, I know. I love how the Constitution divides power and protects the rights of the people.

Before somebody tells me "but this is the only way it is done" or "but this is America" let me lay something out- just because it has been this way for as long as you remember does not mean it can't change. Breaking away from the mother country (Great Britain) wasn't considered an option (except by a few people) until we did it. Just because we are America, doesn't mean we shouldn't learn from other countries and people.

If Caroline always studies in evenings and notices she does poorly on tests, but Sarah always studies in the afternoon right after class should Caroline say "well I'm not Sarah so it won't work for me" or should Caroline look at what is working for Sarah and try to copy it?

This attitude of "but this is America" or "this is Anatekva, Russia in the 1900s so nothing will change" is very damaging to change and progress.
If we know there is a problem as we do now, why aren't we doing something to change it? This doesn't mean we dislike the country if we want to change things. It means we want to make this country a better place.

Just because something "works well" does not mean it is perfect, amendments are needed and even the Founding Fathers acknowledged this.

We have fallen into the very two party partisan arguing that George Washington warned us against. Such arguing will weaken the republic, and probably already has weakened the republic.


Let's look, for example, at the Republican Party, which encompasses a very wide range of ideologies. Would somebody put Trump, social conservatives and libertarians in the same category? I wouldn't. They don't agree on much of anything.

I could easily break the Republican Party into three different parties.

1) Far-Right Populists and Trumpites.
2) Libertarians and Fiscal Conservatives might be able to unite.
3) Social Conservatives and Values Voters.
4) Anarchists/Anarcho-capitalists would probably be a smaller party.


Of course these parties can still form coalitions with each other but they are still separate parties. It is highly unlikely somebody will get a super majority and we will continue doing ping-pong between Democrats and Republicans.

Now I'm going to take the Democrats for my case study,

1) classic Democrats like Obama and Clinton in this category.
2) Progressives

3) Democratic-Socialists
4) Socialist/Worker's Party

Also "monarchists" would have their own party.

See how nicely it divides?

Now imagine if we had all of these parties in congress, instead of focusing on "long live the Republican/Democrat" Party people will be more likely to build coalitions. This also would cease to be a ping-pong country where the Democrats take the government one year and do whatever they want, and Republicans take the government the next year and do the same.

I'm not saying multi-party countries like Poland, France and Canada are free of partisan problems. They still have drama and issues like the United States, but without our extreme sense of partisan-ism.


As a disclaimer, what follows is a cultural analysis. I will make a few generalizations which may or may not apply to an entire culture but as a rule of thumb these are my observations.


We also need to talk more. I've noticed younger Americans are becoming more like Europeans, we are (generally speaking) more prone to discuss and feel strongly about political issues. This is linked to the cultural rise of us gathering in coffeehouses and discussing the important deep issues of life.

Our older generation (again, very generally speaking) grew up during the Cold War and doesn't have the "lets go to a coffeehouse and talk politics!" that the younger generation has. This resulted in a "no politics or religion" culture. There was a desire for the most part to keep peace. After all we have to be unified against the Soviets, right?

Again, I know some older people who love talking politics and are very knowledgeable about the subject, but overall I noticed they aren't as likely to gather in a coffeehouse and debate.

One thing I loved about traveling in France is how open people are about politics. Not everybody, but their culture was more politically expressive than I've seen in the US. It was amazing- you could sit at a cafe and hear people talking about the important issues of life. I think if the US developed more of this culture about talking about your beliefs there would be more understanding of each other and less "well socialists have flawed logic!" or "libertarians are all insane."

Again, these are cultural generalizations. I'm very aware there are some older Americans who like talking politics and younger Americans who hate it. I was mainly looking at the historical standpoint surrounding the Cold War's effect on our culture.

Of course there are ideologies that I will call out as awful- like fascism and divine right monarchy. However, if we spent more time talking about why these are bad ideas maybe less people would believe them, and maybe we as a nation would be more united to stand against these dangerous ideologies that are threatening us today.

Another problem with the two party system is polarization. Although it was worse during the Civil War, that is not a direction we want to head in. If we had a multiparty proportional system, we could represent a wide range of political ideologies and not alienate the middle base. When the middle base gets alienated the common people start thinking "politics isn't for me, they are all bad" and we loose participation in the system.

Remember all that gridlock and tension during Obama's years? When the protests happened, and the Republicans took over Congress. There became more and more of a concentrated effort to purify the base. Now in reality, nobody is a true pure conservative or a pure liberal.

"Political science" aside, Politics is not a science, politics is an art. Politics deals with humans, humans are complex and emotional. Humans are not simple beings but vast and complicated. This is why a multiparty system will do better at monitoring diverse human interests, and cause us to form coalitions with each other. The "pure liberal", "pure conservative" is impossible to reach because all of us may be a bit more liberal on some issues and a bit more conservative on others.


I feel like a multiparty system is something that everybody seems to express a desire for, especially because we cannot get anything done with the ping-pong situation going on. This situation is causing people to become more frustrated and give up. Consequently the spectrum is being pushed into radical territory of undesirable views (see absolute monarchists, and fascists)


These are a few brief reasons on why we should support a multiparty system. All that fustraition we feel about the current ping-pong can be traced back to our two party system. People will be more likely to work together in a multiparty system, and the current worries about fascists and monarchists would be lessened.

Citizens, lets remember just because something has been done a certain way for years doesn't mean it is the right way.
Sometimes we have to look at what the rest of the world is doing, and if its something good- what is to say it will never work here?
The first step to change is to acknowledge what we need- and that is a multiparty system.


I shall close by quoting Washington's farewell address, it is rather long but every word is important;


"The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.

There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume."





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