Donna Brazile took questions today on CNN's
Broken Government series. The last question on the article touches on having more than two parties. Interesting to note her take on American style democracy and other possibilities.
Below the fold, her quote, and more.
There's a theory in political science that says the number of parties is always one more than the number elected to any given office, meaning that if you have a proportional representation system, for example, where 10 legislators are elected to a council to represent an area, there will be no more than 11 strong parties.
If you have a winner-take-all system like we do, meaning that the individual who receives the most votes gets the office, then there will be only two strong parties. For that reason, I do not believe that the United States will ever have a third party that can compete with the Democratic or Republican parties on a nationwide level, unless we shift to a system of proportional representation.
That being said, politics should include everyone, and if there are people disengaging because they do not feel comfortable under either the "Republican" or "Democratic" umbrella, that is a net-loss for democracy. If those people would return and engage if a third party rose to national prominence, I believe that would be a good thing.
In the midst of this heated midterm election, this diary's theme may be off key, but it is good to bring up ideas that let us reconsider our vision far down the road, because for every journey there are first steps.
What do YOU think? I'll check up on your responses tomorrow. Class dismissed!