Two Party vs M ulti-Party

Syste m

By: C hris Bragd o n

ED U 2 90

Two Party Syste m

“A syste m in wh ich o nly two significant

p artie s co m p e te fo r o ffice . Such syste m s

are in the m ino rity am o ng wo rld

d e m o cracie s.”Fiorina, Morris P. The New American Democracy. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.

U nite d State s

• The U nite d State s use s the Two Party

Syste m .

C urre ntly the two p artie s are :

• The Re p ub lican Party

The D e m o cratic Party

Third Partie s in

Am e rica

• The re have b e e n se ve ral instance s in

wh ich th ird p artie s have influe nce d the

o utco m e s o f e le ctio ns, fo r e xam p le :

The G re e n Party

• Bull-M o o se Party

Pro gre ssive s

H isto ric Th ird Party

Pe rfo rm ance s

• 1 856 - M illard Fillm o re (Am e rican Party) - 2 2% o f vo te

1 860 - Jo hn Be ll (C o nstitutio nal U nio n Party) - 1 2 .6%

• 1 896 - W illiam Je nnings Bryan (Po p ulist Party) - 47%

• 1 91 2 - Te d d y Ro o se ve lt (Bull-M o o se ) - 27.4%

1 992 - Ro ss Pe ro t (Ind e p e nd e nt) - 1 8.9%

• 1 996 - Ro ss Pe ro t (Re fo rm Party) - 8%

2000 - Ralp h N ad e r (G re e n Party) - 2 .7%

http ://e n.w ikip e d ia.o rg/wiki/N o tab le _ th ird _ p arty_ p e rform ance s_ in_ U nite d _ State s_ e le ctio ns

W hy D o Th ird

Partie s Fo rm ?

• N o rm ally the y fo rm to ad d re ss a single

issue with in so cie ty and the y te nd to fad e

afte r the p ro b le m is take n care o f.

• “O nly o nce has a th ird p arty re p lace d a

m ajo r p arty: the Re p ub lican Party

d isp lace d the W higs in the 1 85 0s.”Fiorina, Morris P. The New American Democracy. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.

Third Partie s in the

U .S .• W ith Vo te r Re g istratio n o ve r 1 00,000:

G re e n Party

• C o nstitutio n Party

Lib e rtarian Party

http ://e n.w ikip e d ia.o rg/wiki/Third _ p arty_ (U nite d _ State s)#

Large st_ .2 8vo te r_ re g istratio n_ o ve r_ 1 00.2C 000.2 9

http ://www.warb ab y.co m /d h2k/im age s/Party% 20Lo go s/th ird p arty.g if

M ulti-Party Syste m

• M o st d e m o cracie s have

a m ulti-p arty syste m .

O fte n cre ate s a co alitio n

go ve rnm e nt.

• Th is is whe n two

m ino rity p artie s jo in

to ge the r in o rd e r to gain

a m ajo rity in Parliam e nt.

http ://inte racc.typ e p ad .co m /.a/6a01 053596fb 28970c01 1 571 1 c856c970c-35 0wi

Ele cto ral Syste m

• The e le cto ral syste m o fte n affe cts the p arty

syste m o f a co untry.

• Ele cto ral syste m - the way in wh ich a

co untry’s laws translate p o p ular vo te s into

co ntro l o f p ub lic o ffice s.Fiorina, Morris P. The New American Democracy. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.

S ingle -M e m b e r, S ingle

Plurality

This is whe n

e le ctio ns fo r

o ffice take p lace

with in

ge o grap h ic units

(state s, citie s,

e tc.) and the

cand id ate who

wins the m o st

vo te s wins the

e le ctio n.

Fiorina, Morris P. The New American Democracy. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.

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“If ya ain’t first yo u’re

last!”

In the SM SP

syste m , “if ya ain’t

first yo ur last.”

M e aning if yo u

d o n’t win the n yo u

ach ie ve no th ing at

all in the e le ctio n.http ://im age s.w ikia.co m /wikiality/im age s/2 /2a/Ricky-Bo b b y.jp g

http ://www.im d b .co m /title /tt041 5 306/q uo te s?q t= q t042 52 1 4

http ://www.im d b .co m /title /tt041 5 306/q uo te s?q t= q t042 52 1 4

Pro p o rtio nal

Re p re se ntatio n• A m o re co m m o n fo rm o f an e le cto ral

syste m is kno wn as the Pro p o rtio nal

Re p re se ntatio n (PR). The re are m any

variatio ns to th is syste m .

• “In such syste m s, e le ctio ns m ay

(G e rm any) o r m ay no t (Israe l) take p lace

with in sm alle r ge o grap h ic units, b ut e ve n

if the y d o , e ach unit e le cts a num b e r o f

o fficials, with e ach p arty winning se ats in

p ro p o rtio n to the vo te it re ce ive s.”

Fiorina, Morris P. The New American Democracy. 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman, 2007. Print.

Exam p le o f PR

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PR co ntinue d ...

Since it is no t ne ce ssary to finish first in

o rd e r to win se ats, like it is in an SM SP

syste m , the le ad e rs o f p artie s are le ss

like ly to ab and o n the ir se p arate

o rganizatio ns to co m b ine with o the rs. Th is

wo uld re q u ire the m to sacrifice so m e o f

the ir b e lie fs.Th is allo ws vo te rs to m aintain

alle g iance to the ir sm alle r p artie s and a

m ulti-p arty syste m is b o rn.

http ://ale xb o wye r.co m /wp -co nte nt/up lo ad s/2 01 0/05 /p ro p o rtio nal_ re p re se ntatio n_ fix e d .p ng.scale d 1 000.p ng