In my previous article I argued that discussions of a possible civil war in the United States reveals internal, underlying problems. The polarization and radicalization that perpetuate divides within American society are also coupled with a long-standing issue of political stagnation, which stems from the fact that, despite having a population of well over 300 million, the United States is in a state of political gridlock. All aspects of the government are shared between two traditional parties. This system must change to reflect both the changing realities of the country and deeper values of representative democracy.
The issue of political parties and the role they play in this country’s politics is a contested subject, primarily because the American form of democracy was never intended to have parties to begin with. The Founding Fathers’ intentions for government reflected an association of independent representatives without any party allegiances, whereas modern domestic politics primarily reflect the partisan divide, which defines the stagnant and futile nature of the United States government. Stagnant because the two-party domination of political representation prohibits new thoughts and voices from emerging and providing dynamic views. Futile because the lack of change and the illusion of a stable status-quo as a successful long-term system stifles attempts to reform laws that need improvement. For example, persistent issues such as crime, education, national infrastructure and wealth inequality have been left unaddressed in the absence of new parties that can potentially challenge the two main traditional parties. The United States government is now left with inaction and growing distrust among the public.
A recent study points out the glaring issue in the status of political representation — public opinion has little to no weight over the influence of corporations and private donations. The lack of progress in social inequality and economic instability as well as the lack of responsibility taken by the government over their foreign policy decisions all indicate that democracy in the United States suffers from a chronic form of oligarchy — a system in which only a very narrow set of ideas are represented and only a small portion of the population influence the course of action for government.
The defining, internal issue in the United States is the restrictive nature of the two-party system in mainstream politics. The positions and views represented by either the Democrats or Republicans only cover a small portion of the political landscape of this country. Any other party is simply consigned to obscurity. For a country that prides itself on its social diversity, such a restrictive system cannot hope to provide dynamic progress or provide a voice for the people.
Unlike democracies which enjoy a greater variety of parties, the United States restricts itself to a very narrow range of positions that consequently fuels distrust and apathy. Nations such as Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand all use electoral systems that allow for more diverse representation, as well as consistently high rankings among global democracies and human rights indexes. Their advantage comes from allowing their citizens to voice their opinions in an assembly proportional to their support, which generally improves trust in the political system.
A two-party system cannot work for a country that inevitably needs to represent a massive and diverse population. The solutions for this issue will need to come from implementing changes to the ways in which people of the United States vote in each election and the seats that get selected as a result. The traditional system, in which a single candidate wins the majority of the votes, results in what is known as the “Spoiler Effect,” which means that people will tend to vote not based on what they desire the most, but rather on the likelihood of a tolerable candidate succeeding against the opposite side.
The solution to our broken system can be inspired by alternative systems, like proportional representation and ranked-choice voting, but fundamentally speaking, it really comes down to the ideal form of democracy the United States deserves. If you think that the current way of things is sustainable, then you must consider the rising political divides, the emerging public distrust of the government and the shared views of the people advocating for change and political reform. Change can only come through systematic reform, for which it is absolutely necessary to overhaul the way political parties function and to represent views across the nation.
Deniz Gulay is a freshman majoring in history.
Views expressed in the opinions pages represent the opinions of the columnists. The only piece that represents the views of the Pipe Dream Editorial Board is the Staff Editorial.