Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh
Can a party be effective when its platform becomes dominated by relatively extreme views relative to the mainstream of a given polity?

Seamus
The answer to your question in my mind, is quite obviously "yes."

If by effective you mean "Are they able to get elected?"

The extremists in both the Democrat and Republican parties have succeeded in supplanting all hints of moderation in their respective left and right leaning agendas with polarization that forces voters (most of whom I believe to be moderates) to hold their noses and make the voting decision that they find least offensive to their own positions.

The abortion issue is case and point. Although I believe most American voters fall somewhere in the middle on the issue (i.e. they believe early term abortions should be available to women in some circumatsnces), they are forced to decide between the Dems, who will fight to the death any limitation on abortion for any reason at any stage in any pregnancy, and the Republicans whose rhetoric leads to the belief that they want to outlaw abortion entirely because they view it as murder no matter what stage the pregnancy has progressed to.

So now you have the notional Joe Lunchbox voter, who believes that, say, only first trimester abortions should be permitted, but should be permitted for any reason. Neither party fits with his convictions, so he is forced to decide between the lesser of two evils.

The problem is that the extremists in both parties are the ones who make the most noise and have the most impact on platform/policy. But since there are only two choices when it comes to election time, the vast majority of moderates have no choice but to keep electing these extremist parties.