The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

[citygator]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

 

[Mac1958]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

This is unsustainable. Either a strong and viable third party emerges, or enough (comparatively) moderate, Manchin-like voices are elected to slow down the decline.

But I'm not even sure we all have the same goal here. It may be that the goal is to rip it all down and start over. Whomever has the most guns gets to build what's next.

Like the child who destroys the sand box when they don't get their way, that may be what's happening here.

 

[Jets]

From the OP link:

The most compelling theory based on historical patterns of democratic decline is that hyper-polarization cracked the foundations of American democracy, creating the conditions under which a party could break democratic norms with impunity, because winning in the short term became more important than maintaining democracy for the long term.

That’s the problem in a nutshell. Politics is the epitome of a zero sum game.

 

[citygator]

The article didn’t mention gerrymandering which I think is a huge cause of polarization. When you have ideological pockets carved out by ideology you get partisan candidates playing to the fringes not the middle to build a coalition.

 

[Mac-7]

But I'm not even sure we all have the same goal here. It may be that the goal is to rip it all down and start over. Whomever has the most guns gets to build what's next.

You ate describing your fellow biden voters

Its your side that is trying to year our country apart

 

[frigidweirdo]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

It's not effing up democracy, as there wasn't any real democracy anyway.

But Proportional Representation is real democracy

 

[Votto]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The issue is the media and the Progressive movements collectivization of power.

As we all know, power corrupts, except for Progressives. For Progressives, the problem is not enough centralized power to "get things done".

So what has happened over the years is, they have centralized all power to the Federal government, specifically the Executive Branch, so that the Executive Branch now makes pretty much all our decisions, ranging from what doctor we see and what school teacher teaches our children. It was never designed this way, and is why half the country wants to secede every Presidential election cycle.

And with such centralized power at the Federal level, all of our other institutions, such as the media, has taken over and corrupted them as well.

Make as many parties as you want, the issues will continue.

 

[citygator]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The issue is the media and the Progressive movements collectivization of power.

As we all know, power corrupts, except for Progressives. For Progressives, the problem is not enough centralized power to "get things done".

So what has happened over the years is, they have centralized all power to the Federal government, specifically the Executive Branch, so that the Executive Branch now makes pretty much all our decisions, ranging from what doctor we see and what school teacher teaches our children. It was never designed this way, and is why half the country wants to secede every Presidential election cycle.

And with such centralized power at the Federal level, all of our other institutions, such as the media, has taken over and corrupted them as well.

Make as many parties as you want, the issues will continue.

Irony lost out here. Thread is on hyper-partisanship and how it’s affecting democracy and you pull out a progressive rant that is the kind of rhetoric that justified Jan 6 which is ultimately a tremor of an upcoming democracy quake.

 

[wamose]

Marxists-communists-MSM- Democrats are what is screwing up the American government.

 

[Nostra]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The US isn't a Democracy, Dumbass.

We are a Representative Republic.

 

[citygator]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The US isn't a Democracy, Dumbass.

We are a Representative Republic.

A distinction without a difference. A representative republic is a democracy. Thanks for your weighty contribution. Fat ass.

 

[Votto]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The issue is the media and the Progressive movements collectivization of power.

As we all know, power corrupts, except for Progressives. For Progressives, the problem is not enough centralized power to "get things done".

So what has happened over the years is, they have centralized all power to the Federal government, specifically the Executive Branch, so that the Executive Branch now makes pretty much all our decisions, ranging from what doctor we see and what school teacher teaches our children. It was never designed this way, and is why half the country wants to secede every Presidential election cycle.

And with such centralized power at the Federal level, all of our other institutions, such as the media, has taken over and corrupted them as well.

Make as many parties as you want, the issues will continue.

Irony lost out here. Thread is on hyper-partisanship and how it’s affecting democracy and you pull out a progressive rant that is the kind of rhetoric that justified Jan 6 which is ultimately a tremor of an upcoming democracy quake.

January 6th? So that changed everything did it? An unarmed woman shot dead and a Viking running round, eh?

Though it is true they were there illegally in the Capital, it just illustrates the disconnect democrats like yourself have with the country. Lawlessness is dealt with using brutal force as the name of the police officer is not given to the press and the officer is not even investigated. Meanwhile as the rest of the nation burns to the ground and looted any such attempt to maintain order is met with accusations of racism and police brutality as the police officer is trashed with death threats flowing in from people like Lebron.

You're an idiot.

 

[progressive hunter]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

dont you mean the two party system is fucking up our "REPUBLIC"???

on that I agree,,

 

[Nostra]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The US isn't a Democracy, Dumbass.

We are a Representative Republic.

A distinction without a difference. A representative republic is a democracy. Thanks for your weighty contribution. Fat ass.

Nope. Not the same.

Get educated, Stupid.

 

[Votto]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

dont you mean the two party system is fucking up our "REPUBLIC"???

on that I agree,,

No, the US had a two party system for a very long time. The difference is that the Federal government runs everything now because all power has been subverted to them over the years, mostly during the Progressive era.

If you let states run their own affairs, things would get back to normal because conservative and left wing states could do their own thing in peace, but the all powerful and controlling Progressives in both parties would never allow that power to be lost to them in the Federal government. Now half the country wants to secede every election cycle as both conservative and left wing states are forced to submit to the Federal behemoth regarding pretty much everything.

The Founding Fathers were wary of the Federal government becoming too powerful and many would not sign the Constitution because of it. To help appease those who feared that the Federal government would become what it is today, they put in the Constitution the ability of the states to amend the Constitution under Article V if the Federal government became too corrupt and powerful. However, once you lose the power you never get it back, and to date, states have not once amended the Constitution to restore Federalism. In fact, I would wager most Americans have no idea what Federalism even is.

 

[progressive hunter]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

dont you mean the two party system is fucking up our "REPUBLIC"???

on that I agree,,

No, the US had a two party system for a very long time. The difference is that the Federal government runs everything now because all power has been subverted to them.

If you let states run their own affairs, things would get back to normal because conservative and left wing states could do their own thing in peace, but the all powerful and controlling Progressives in both parties would never allow that power to be lost to them in the Federal government. Now half the country wants to secede every election cycle.

The Founding Fathers were wary of the Federal government becoming too powerful and many would not sign the Constitution because of it. To help appease those who feared that the Federal government would become what it is today, they put in the Constitution the ability of the states to amend the Constitution under Article V if the Federal government became too corrupt and powerful. However, once you lose the power you never get it back, and to date, states have not once amended the Constitution to restore Federalism. In fact, I would wager most Americans have no idea what Federalism even is.

technically we have allowed parties into the system and there are several of them,, but the two controlly parties have corrupted the system and shut out all the others,,

 

[InspectorDetector]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

(1) We are not a "democracy" we are a representative republic.

(2) Where were the democrats when Hillary (the awful) was defeated? Screams of "RESIST!!!"

Quite frankly, and I have made no bones about it - I DESPISE the fascist left so no, I will NEVER fall into lock-step.

 

[Rogue AI]

There is nothing wrong with the two party system. The problem is stupid liberals allowed radicals to overthrow the common sense moderate Democrats. The two party systems when working properly, inherently creates a moderate and compromising government. Only when one side or the other takes a radical turn does a problem arise.

 

[InspectorDetector]

A well cited argument assessing the state of democracy in the US and the contributing factors which put it at risk from a declining two-party system.

In order for democracy to work, competing parties must accept that they can lose elections, and that it’s okay. But when partisans see their political opposition not just as the opposition, but as a genuine threat to the well-being of the nation, support for democratic norms fadesbecause “winning” becomes everything. Politics, in turn, collapses into an all-out war of “us against them,” a kind of “pernicious polarization” that appears over and over again in democratic collapses, and bears a striking similarity to what’s currently happening in the U.S.

What’s happening in the U.S. is distinct in four respects.

• First, the animosity that people feel toward opposing parties relative to their own (what’s known as affective polarization in political science) has grown considerably over the last four decades.
• Second, the change in how Americans feel about their party and other parties has been driven by a dramatic decrease in positive feelings toward the opposing party.
• Third, more so than in other countries, Americans report feeling isolated from their own party.
• Fourth, and perhaps most significant, in the U.S., one party has become a major illiberal outlier: The Republican Party.
  
  
  

  Why The Two-Party System Is Effing Up U.S. Democracy

  As the “Big Lie” of a stolen election continues to dominate the Republican Party, GOP-controlled states enact restrictive voting laws and pursue preposterous el…

  fivethirtyeight.com

The US isn't a Democracy, Dumbass.

We are a Representative Republic.

A distinction without a difference. A representative republic is a democracy. Thanks for your weighty contribution. Fat ass.

Uh no, no it is not.

 

[Votto]

Brining up the two party system as the scapegoat for the decline of government is red herring to divert attention away from the true sources of our problems that has made government unable to govern the nation anymore. It is akin to shuffling the chairs on the Titanic. Just don't expect me to participate as the ship sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

But to address the problem, which is Progressivism, or collectivism, or whatever you want to call the power grab by an elite few over the years, would be to threaten their very power. That will never be discussed in the media or elsewhere.