'The "two party" system is bad for the US.'
[ support:45% : certainty:65 ] · [30 replies] ·
[1 comment]
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support 0% · Makes corruption easiermoderated to 50%; argued down by 50%
by seraphblade on 2005-09-29 18:43:58-Two parties can more easily collude to ensure a result that is desirable to them but undesirable to the voters. Since no other party is an option, neither is the classic recourse of democracy-"vote the bums out", as in this scenario both parties "in power" are the bums. This also reduces recourse for the wrongdoing to be exposed (as there is no one in power with the clout and wish to do so), and creates a cycle that feeds on itself.
-Bribes (campaign contributions) go further when there are only two sets of palms to grease.
-Makes it likely that the "check and balance" system integral to constitutional democracy will be corrupted by having large numbers of representatives of a single party at all levels.
-Proportional representation would better reflect the "will of all the people", including the minorities, and prevent current problems such as gerrymandering and total exclusion of third parties.
summary
title: 'Makes corruption easier'
text: '-Two parties can more easily collude to ensure a result that is desirable to them but undesirable to the voters. Since no other party is an option, neither is the classic recourse of democracy-"vote the bums out", as in this scenario both parties "in power" are the bums. This also reduces recourse for the wrongdoing to be exposed (as there is no one in power with the clout and wish to do so), and creates a cycle that feeds on itself.
-Bribes (campaign contributions) go further when there are only two sets of palms to grease.
-Makes it likely that the "check and balance" system integral to constitutional democracy will be corrupted by having large numbers of representatives of a single party at all levels.
-Proportional representation would better reflect the "will of all the people", including the minorities, and prevent current problems such as gerrymandering and total exclusion of third parties.'
tags:
date: 2005-09-29 18:43:58
submitter: seraphblade
effective: 0
support: 0
oppose: 0
stancePos: 1
stanceNeg: 1
stanceEffective:
repliesSupport: 0
repliesOppose: 0
repliesTotal: 0
comments: 0
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