It's 2016 and the media has presented us with various binaries: Hilary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump, Democrats or Republicans. In a nation where people supposedly dictate political outcome, our elections exemplify how few choices the people actually have. In the presidential election, you will get the choice between a Democratic candidate, a Republican candidate, and some third party candidates.
With Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, conversations have turned to who should be the Democratic nominee, for they will be the only chance America has towards relinquishing the evil monster that is Trump. This almost cartoon-ish nature of the 2016 Presidential Election has been an example of the disenfranchisement of the U.S. citizen.
The "Bernie or Bust" movement presents a schism with some voters seeking for the Democratic party to start focusing on the working-class. Clinton supporters have responded with the need for mobilization of a united Democrat front in order to beat Trump. Here there is the assertion of a bipartisan democracy. The discourse on the future of America takes place between two majority parties.
In the seemingly important election, there is little to be excited about. Our decisions will ultimately be between two evils. Yet we are told that we, as Americans, are blessed with political autonomy. Is this autonomy? What came first - the politician or the voter?
Here's the cheat sheet to my rhetorical questions: a true democracy is one that allows the people to shape the future of their nation. The two-party system has made the election an exciting one of scandals and debacles between two rival factions, yet the voter is apathetic - especially those who have been historically prohibited from voting. We get to pick a president as a country, yet whose interests are really voiced?
With a two-party system, there is less room for compromise, and everything becomes black and white - alternative possibilities are forgotten as third parties are erased and dis-empowered. Third party candidates can run for president, but it's been claimed that voting for them would mean a wasted vote for there is no chance that they would win. We have acknowledged other political viewpoints besides the two major parties but simultaneously they are deprived of their presence.
With no need to concede to third parties, American politics have become of dichotomy of "Democrat vs Republican." Any settlement lies within that political spectrum. The two parties have become comfortable in their powerful place in the U.S. Both parties have become co-opted by corporations and private interests. Power has been siphoned from the citizens and into capital.
Historically the two-party systems have been a sort of electoral checks-and-balances. In a post-Watergate America, it is clear to the American people that its politics are corrupt. In this point of time, we cannot just count on two parties to keep the other from overpowering democracy; it is time for other parties to enter the main arena of U.S. elections and ensure that our elections truly represent the people voting.
