Looking at the ballot, I get to vote for the Presidential Electors for:
American Constitution
Democratic
Republican
Libertarian
Green
Socialist, USA
Justice
Peace and Freedom
Socialist Workers
America's
Socialism and Liberation
American Third Position
Unaffiliated
Objectivist
We the People
Socialist Equality
That's a lot of parties going on. Hmmm. I sense a blog research project …
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And surely, in a democracy, all those parties are treated equal… Right?
While there's no active persecution, the two parties have a significant lock on the electoral process. Not quite exclusive, but darned close.
Really? Presidential debates that exclude all but the D&R nominees, then arrest the Green Party candidate outside the door?
I'm not exactly a supporter of most Third Parties (since most of them are 1-issue or radicals), but that sort of approach contradicts the notions of fair representation, choice, and elections.
I say not quite exclusive because (a) they do get on the ballot, (b) we do end up with a small handful of non-D/R types in office.
I do agree about the debate question, to at least some degree — I think there should be at least one debate that opens the door beyond the D&R candidates, though no matter what rules you go by you'll end up having to cut someone out.
I can't say this enough: you guys need to get away from the first-past-the-post election system: you will get an immediate increase in the power of the third parties, which in turn will help keep the big ones honest. If you get to the point where a 10% national vote count will correlate to a 10% share of the electoral college, you will see big party candidates paying a lot more attention to the people than to the corporates, because the corporates cant help them get elected anymore.
Look at the elections system reform of New Zealand as an example.
+Andreas Geisler I don't think I agree. Corporate funded advertising is very powerful. In fact, it's arguable that the Electoral College tends to minimize their power, because many areas lock solidly towards one candidate and no amount of advertising will sway enough people in those locations.
I think there's truth in both things you say, +Andreas Geisler and +Gary Roth. Of course, Andreas, that very issue is a big reason why we are unlikely to see such a substantive change. Also, as noted elsewhere, that sort of proportional position creates its own issues or concerns.
there are issues with every model and there is no optimal model… Still, the one-party-with-bickering system used in the US may be the least optimal.