American Political System: Difference between revisions

For social and moral issues, it's more complicated, and generally extremists on ''both'' ends tend to favor government policies that enforce their values and restrict (or outright prohibit) behavior they disapprove of, while moderates, who make up the vast majority of the American populace, would rather they all just shut up about it.

 

 

There are a number of smaller groups, typically called "third parties" in the US, which are largely active only at the municipal or state level and rarely, if ever, elect members to federal office. The largest third parties in the country are as follows:

* The '''[[wikipedia:Constitution Party (United States)|Constitution Party]]''' is a "paleoconservative" party, which means that, while they have very right-wing views on taxes, spending and social/cultural issues<ref>They oppose immigration, welfare and the income tax, support gun rights, states' rights and anti-federalism, and take a generally fundamentalist Christian stance on issues like homosexuality, abortion, gambling and pornography. Their anti-abortion position is a big enough issue that debates over whether to allow for abortions in the event of rape, incest and the health of the mother created a schism that saw several state affiliates break away.</ref> and an explicit rooting of their beliefs in Christianity, they also break from modern mainstream conservatism by opposing free trade in favor of a protectionist/mercantilist trade policy, as well as supporting a foreign policy of noninterventionism and a reduced role in world affairs, including repeal of the Patriot Act and withdrawal from the [[United Nations|UN]], the World Bank and the IMF.

* The '''[[wikipedia:Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]]''' is pretty much [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin]]: it aims to be the leading party for libertarianism (though some libertarians do not agree with some of the LP's stances). It is the third largest political party according to [[wikipedia:Libertarian Party (United States)#cite note-1|these sources]] as of 2011. Libertarians tend to favor maximum individual liberty (pro-gun rights, pro-gay rights, pro-drug legalization, pro-legal abortion, anti-Patriot Act, anti-censorship), maximum economic liberty (loose environmental and labor laws, pro-free trade, anti-tax, anti-bailout), and very limited government involvement in social welfare. Libertarians do not identify themselves as "left" or "right" in the traditional sense—most would argue for a bi-axial system of political identification, with "conservative" and "liberal" on the economic axis and "libertarian" and "authoritarian" on the social axis.

 

And before anyone asks:

 

 

Their initial goals were largely libertarian and financial in nature, including smaller government, lower taxes, states' rights, and opposition to the bailouts and growing government spending (especially deficit spending), but the specific goals of its constituent groups greatly broadened the movement's focus; in particular, illegal immigration, family values and opposition to [[Hollywood Global Warming|climate change]] legislation have been taken up as additional planks by many local and regional groups. A few politicians, such as [[Sarah Palin]], Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann, frequently speak at Tea Party events and are considered by outsiders as the public face of the group, but various groups remain and have no unified official leader. [[We ARE Struggling Together!|This has been problematic]], though less than usual in such cases. Since the Tea Party and the issues it champions are hot-button subjects within the United States, please remember the [[Rule of Cautious Editing Judgment]] when discussing them.

Currently, there are three third-party federal office holders, all of them senators. The first is Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont who identifies himself as a socialist, campaigns as an independent but for all intents and purposes caucuses ("hangs out") with the Democrats. The second is Joseph Lieberman, a senator from Connecticut who was not renominated by the Democratic Party in the 2006 election, but ran as an "Independent Democrat" without party funding, won reelection anyway, and continues to caucus as a Democrat. The third is Lisa Murkowski of [[Alaska]]; initially appointed as a Republican to the seat vacated by her father when he was elected governor, she lost to a Tea Party-backed candidate in the 2010 Republican primary, ran as a write-in candidate, and won; she continues to caucus with the Republicans. The latter two senators tend to break from their party line more, mostly out of bitterness due to being out-primaried (and in Lieberman's case, his long-standing and well-noted differences with the main line of the Democrats on foreign policy, which prompted his break in the first place).

 

 

America uses a first-past-the-post voting system—in any election, one vote is cast and the candidate/option with the most votes is the winner, even if a majority did not vote for it. Quick example: In an election between A, B, and C, A gets 35%, B gets 45%, and C gets 20%. B wins, even though 55% of the electorate voted against it. If it seems to you that the A and C supporters should have teamed up and pooled their votes rather than splitting them, congratulations—you've just discovered why America has only two major political parties. Using political science, [[wikipedia:Duvergerchr(27)s law|it can be shown]] that plurality elections tend to lead to two-party systems, which is exactly what happened in America. This has led to calls for the implementation of alternative voting systems, such as the single transferable vote or instant-runoff voting, in order to break the monopoly of the two major parties, as well as the abolition of the Electoral College system.