Do you support third parties?

[Sasaki Kojiro]

That won't happen given the way the US political system is structured and also how any successful third party has it's agenda absorbed and less radicalized by one of the two major parties to steal votes.

So the two party system is why we don't have a warmonger party, a communist party, an extreme environmentalist party, and purely fundamentalist christian party, etc? Just moderate forms of them? Isn't that GREAT?

[al Roumi]

I used to be a strong supporter of 3rd parties. As I get older however and find myself moving closer into the mainstream, I find I can't really sustain the same energy and enthusiasm for a third consecutive night on the sauce.

[CBR]

So the two party system is why we don't have a warmonger party, a communist party, an extreme environmentalist party, and purely fundamentalist christian party, etc? Just moderate forms of them? Isn't that GREAT?

Why is it great that such political groupings have no political representation? If they can get enough votes to get above the minimum (like 2, 4 or 5% as seen in Denmark, Sweden or Germany) then why should they not have a voice?

[Veho Nex]

Do to me not knowing what I was doing when filling out my voter registration I am classified as an American Independent or something like that.

[Skullheadhq]

So the two party system is why we don't have a [...] warmongering purely fundamentalist christian party, etc?

Two party system is no garantuee that one of the two wont be a warmongering christian fundamentalist one, just look at the US...

Do to me not knowing what I was doing when filling out my voter registration I am classified as an American Independent or something like that.

No secret ballots in America? Does the government know what you vote? That's scary.

[drone]

No secret ballots in America? Does the government know what you vote? That's scary.

Who you actually vote for in an election is secret. You can set down a party affiliation when you register to vote though, in some states this affects which primary you can vote in.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Why is it great that such political groupings have no political representation? If they can get enough votes to get above the minimum (like 2, 4 or 5% as seen in Denmark, Sweden or Germany) then why should they not have a voice?

Why require them to have 2%, or 4%, or 5%? You are denying a representative in congress to a 1%, 3%, or 4% group in that system. If an idea is such that the vast majority of people don't support it, then those that do can either try and persuade them or maybe the idea just sucks you know. If the group is big enough it is courted by one of the 2-party groups.

Don't you think having less influence from small special interest extremist groups is a good thing?

[a completely inoffensive name]

Why require them to have 2%, or 4%, or 5%? You are denying a representative in congress to a 1%, 3%, or 4% group in that system. If an idea is such that the vast majority of people don't support it, then those that do can either try and persuade them or maybe the idea just sucks you know. If the group is big enough it is courted by one of the 2-party groups.

Don't you think having less influence from small special interest extremist groups is a good thing?

If we denied representation to parties whos ideas just suck, then that would create a whole mess of problems.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

If we denied representation to parties whos ideas just suck, then that would create a whole mess of problems.

We don't really do that though...the system is just sort of pragmatic.

[CBR]

Why require them to have 2%, or 4%, or 5%? You are denying a representative in congress to a 1%, 3%, or 4% group in that system.

Ideally one could indeed argue that it should be set as low as possible. OTOH there are also some practical concerns which IIRC is why Germany made it 5 % to prevent the problem caused by extremist parties as seen in the Weimar Republic. (technically it is possible for a party to get in with less than 5% but requires winning 3 constituency seats which is rather rare)

A minimum of 5% might be the best for large nations as regional differences could produce too many small parties. Israel is a good and perhaps a unique example of way too many parties for such a small country.

If an idea is such that the vast majority of people don't support it, then those that do can either try and persuade them or maybe the idea just sucks you know. If the group is big enough it is courted by one of the 2-party groups.

Don't you think having less influence from small special interest extremist groups is a good thing?

TBH I do not see that allowing more parties automatically means extremist groups. Nor do I see many of them in the countries I mentioned. There might not even be that much of a difference between them but it can enable a voter to shift his vote to another party or candidate without feeling he is voting for the "other side".

Of course it is all rather moot as USA has a separation of powers which makes the Congress not as important as it would be in a parliamentary system.

There are several ways to do it but I just think the voters deserve more choice than they currently have in USA.

[CountArach]

I'm a paid-up member of the Australian Greens so yes I do support one and actively at that.

[rory_20_uk]

I support the principle of third parties, and in practice I have voted for them when their policies are closer to what I think than the mainstream parties.

[Ironside]

Why require them to have 2%, or 4%, or 5%? You are denying a representative in congress to a 1%, 3%, or 4% group in that system. If an idea is such that the vast majority of people don't support it, then those that do can either try and persuade them or maybe the idea just sucks you know. If the group is big enough it is courted by one of the 2-party groups.

Don't you think having less influence from small special interest extremist groups is a good thing?

Now I'm not sure you support them, but the popular US choise of libertarians can be acting as special interest extremist groups sometimes. But a representative system gives the abillity to give influence to a party without it getting sole power. I've voted for the greens and I can still honestly say that they should not rule the country. But with enough influence, parts of their more sane policies can be applied.