It is simpler to govern when there are only two prominent parties. Having a two-party system keeps countries’ politics organized, even if it may not seem so in our current climate.
There are so many divisive topics in the United States and so many different single interest groups that allowing a third or fourth party into the arena would be counterproductive to progress, nonetheless. Offshoot and hyper specialized political parties would only alienate the greater majorities.
For the ordinary person who is not clued into politics on a regular basis, politics can be hard to understand. It is easier for people to make a choice at the voting booth and to make sense of policies if they only have to pick between two parties.
One advantage of the two-party system is that it prevents minor radical parties from forming and attempting to take power from the two main parties. Such radical parties would predictably not have the whole country’s best interest.
When there are more than two parties, or when one smaller party tries to gain power, they will fall under the right or the left side at various degrees of radical or conservative ideology. Eventually, the lesser left or lesser right party will be absorbed by the more dominant left or right party, respectively.
The article “The Nature of Party Categories in Two-Party and Multiparty Systems in Advances in Political Psychology,” by Stephen P. Nicholson, states that “Parties on the same side of the ideological divide may offer similar programs, some nearly identical, making it especially difficult for the public to differentiate between them.”
The Tea Party gave the USA a glimpse into why multi party systems would not work.
In 2009, the fiscally conservative Tea Party movement branched from the Republican party and was made up of libertarians and right-wing conservatives. By 2019, the movement faded away.
But according to a New York Times article “(The Tea Party) ignited a revival of the politics of outrage and mistrust in government, breathing new life into the populist passions that continue to threaten the stability of both political parties. Even if the Tea Party’s ideas are dead, its attitude lives on.”
Furthermore, the Advances in Political Psychology article says that “parties with similar policies might fade into each other, making it especially difficult for citizens to make left-right party placements.”
Even in a polarized country like the United States, forming additional parties separate from the Republicans and the Democrats would further divide the country. Less problems will get solved and more tension between multiple ideological camps would clash. Three or more parties would tear the country apart even further.
Some Americans may dislike the two-party system, but that can be attributed to Republicans’ and Democrats’ unwillingness to work with each other in recent times. Additional parties branching from the two is not the solution to the United States’ long list of problems – rather, things will get done when red and blue politicians working together and remember the art of compromising.
