Why Do Democratic Governments Need Political Parties
Hope Lynn Herrmann
Essay 2
American Government
Why do democratic governments need political parties? Why does the United States have only two major parties? Name and explain the major factors influencing how many political parties exist in US politics. Under what circumstances could a viable third party emerge to challenge the Democrats and Republicans? Would you rather have more than a two (major) party system, and if so, why?
Democratic governments have been in existence for thousands of years and has dominated the history of the United State since the end of the revolutionary war. The appeal of this form of government is that the government is for and by the people. I believe that the political parties of our nation serve to organize the varying views and expectations of the people. A political party is “a group of political activists who …show more content…
Third parties make a difference in an election by diverting and absorbing votes that would have gone to another major candidate. It really depends on the election. Some presidential and congressional elections are won by such a large margin that one or two or three percent of the votes in another direction would have made no difference at all. On the other hand, certain elections are so close that even a tiny amount could have changed history. Consider the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush II. Al Gore actually won the popular vote, however, Bush won the election because of the way our electoral system works. There was speculation that Al Gore could have won had it now been for the votes that went to smaller, third party candidates. These two men are contrasting leaders with opposite opinions on many social and economic policies which leads me to believe that things in the United States could have been much different had the election gone in the other
Essay 2
American Government
Why do democratic governments need political parties? Why does the United States have only two major parties? Name and explain the major factors influencing how many political parties exist in US politics. Under what circumstances could a viable third party emerge to challenge the Democrats and Republicans? Would you rather have more than a two (major) party system, and if so, why?
Democratic governments have been in existence for thousands of years and has dominated the history of the United State since the end of the revolutionary war. The appeal of this form of government is that the government is for and by the people. I believe that the political parties of our nation serve to organize the varying views and expectations of the people. A political party is “a group of political activists who …show more content…
Third parties make a difference in an election by diverting and absorbing votes that would have gone to another major candidate. It really depends on the election. Some presidential and congressional elections are won by such a large margin that one or two or three percent of the votes in another direction would have made no difference at all. On the other hand, certain elections are so close that even a tiny amount could have changed history. Consider the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George Bush II. Al Gore actually won the popular vote, however, Bush won the election because of the way our electoral system works. There was speculation that Al Gore could have won had it now been for the votes that went to smaller, third party candidates. These two men are contrasting leaders with opposite opinions on many social and economic policies which leads me to believe that things in the United States could have been much different had the election gone in the other