It Takes Two, Or More

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California's Proposition 14 - Abel Maldonado
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A system in which two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections, at every level, results in nearly all elective offices being held by those parties' candidates. In other countries coalition governments are rare... In the United States, virtually impossible.

Is the result really small-D democratic?

There is no Constitutional reason for it in America... It's just a tradition, reinforced over time by partisans who benefit from limiting choice. But as a whole, there are now more people with no affiliation, or membership in other parties, than the total of registered Democrats & Republicans combined.

Why only two, Mr. Maldonado? How about 3, 4 or 5 advancing beyond a non partisan preliminary. Computer data is stored in either/or logic, but people can process more choices.



The performance of Nick Clegg in Britain's first ever televised debates among party leaders has raised the clear possibility of a "hung Parliament" in which the Liberal Democrats will hold the balance of power in forming a coalition with current PM Gordon Brown of Labour or Conservative David Cameron.

In America, independents may well hold the balance of power in the Senate after this year's election. Their choice of which caucus to join could be the factor which determine who controls the body.