The Two-Party System: Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils
By: Eric J. Safranek
Tags: Government, 2016 Election, Leadership, Diversity, Politics

The Two-Party System: Choosing the Lesser of Two Evils

Photo by Amber Wolfe on Unsplash

If the last five years have taught us anything, it is that the United States remains resilient. Begining with a very contentious Election in 2016, followed by a contested Election in 2020, and culminating with the events of January 6th; American Democracy has been uniquely tested as of late — unlike any other time in our history.

The Problem

Many American Citizens have become irrevocably disillusioned and disgusted by the actions of the Politicians we voted for; while others are left feeling shortchanged by the limited options which we are presented with every couple of years.

You have a choice between the Republican Candidate or the Democratic Candidate, that’s it. While ideologies vary so greatly, both inside and outside of each Party, it becomes no surprise that after each election we are left with half our country — AND, half of the winning Party’s supporters, feeling underrepresented. Is this really the best that we can do?

Trump’s words, actions and policies have not only cemented an, “Us vs Them” mentality and dialogue amongst Republicans and Democrats, but also amongst Republicans themselves, in turn exposing a Grand Canyon size fissure between Republican Politicians and the voters they supposedly represent.

The Democrats created a party divide of their own back in 2016 with questionable tactics that promoted the establishment candidate, Hilary Clinton, to the Democratic nomination over the progressive candidate, Bernie Sanders. This ultimately created a disenfranchised segment of the Democratic Party who felt they must decide to either vote against their own Party’s candidate, or not at all — ultimately, clearing a path to Trump’s 2016 victory.

For all their talk about dissolving Unions, breaking up Big Tech or Corporate Monopolies; Congress should instead focus their efforts towards breaking up two of the most corrupt alliances in the World… the Republican “Grand Old Party” & the Democratic National Committee.

Solution: The Four Party System

Today’s Two-Party System has simply become an outdated model which no longer represents the diversity, values or needs of a 21st Century United States of America.

The collective Third-Party attempts of elections past, have separately created such little impact upon the overall vote-tally each year; or actually ended up hurting one party or the other, (i.e., Ross Perot in 1992 and Ralph Nader in 2000) while failing to elect one of their own to high office.

The population of the United States is currently around 329.5 million people. In comparison, Germany, (one of the largest countries in Western Europe) is just over 83 million people — approximately one-quarter the size of the U.S. The German Elections of 2021 resulted in five different Political Parties receiving over 10% of the votes.

What If…

Our government were to formally announce the formation of two additional parties over the next couple years in an effort to form a Four-Party System which better represented our Voter’s needs and balanced power?

Perhaps, it may look something like this:

Democrats: For Establishment Democrats such as Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.

Social Democrats: For Progressive Democrats such as: Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Republicans: For Fiscally Responsible and Traditional Republicans such as Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger and Mitt Romney.

Trumpians: For those who embrace Nationalism and the values which Donald Trump and his allies represent.

The Goal: Better Representation

There is no such thing as the perfect political system. As long as there are more than two people living in the same region, there will almost always be disagreement on Leadership.

Yes, I wholeheartedly acknowledge that there will still be alliances formed and sides taken — But, perhaps they will be formed in the middle and not on the fringes of the very far Right or Left. What I hope we all will gain from this solution is simple: Better Representation which is more aligned with our Voter’s values, priorities and needs; rather than with deep pockets and outdated ideologies.

We should break up these two behemoths of power for the same exact reasons they look to break up corporate monopolies:

Minimal competition

Higher prices paid by citizens

Inferior products

A Concentration of Power ultimately leads to weakened checks and balances within our Government

It will take many brave new Leaders and several election cycles to form these new Parties and make a difference. They will not get the Presidency their first attempt. It will take patience and persistence to build these parties up from grassroots, to State Legislators, Governors, House Representatives and Senators. But remember, we currently have other Political Parties to choose from, who are established and have been clawing for an opportunity to make greater impacts. We need to learn from them, and we need to include them.

There is so much room for improvement, but change like this will not come easy. These proposed solutions simply cannot come to fruition until we:

Do a complete overhaul of Campaign Finance

Greatly reduce Lobbying influence upon our Politicians, and

influence upon our Politicians, and Dissolve the Electoral College

…but we’ll save those solutions for future posts!

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