| vivster said: And where do you think that pressure from the left will come from when Republicans are the only ones voted into office? Of course they're moving ever closer to the right when that's the side that's most appealing to voters. And that won't change unless democrats are routinely voted in and they can actually push for progressive reforms without having to fear to be instantly voted out of office next chance. I am all for more parties but THAT. SHIT. DOES. NOT. WORK. IN. THE. US. BECAUSE. THE. US. IS. NOT. A. DEMOCRACY. So let's just focus on trying to reform first before we try to pretend that democracy exists, let alone works, in the US. |
Where did you get the idea that the Republicans would be the only ones voted in office? These other parties throughout history that I mentioned were successful in regions where they became the first party and either the Democrats and Republicans merged as the second party, or one of them became a distant third with this new party being one of the two major parties in that region. Duverger's law breaks down when support for a party is concentrated regionally. It is why the Scottish National Party is so successful in Britain despite it being in a FPTP system, for example. Or how the NDP vs. Conservatives are the major parties in much of Western Canada, despite it having a FPTP system.
A new People's Party could easily put a lot of resources in regions where the chances of a Republican winning are slim. California's jungle primaries for example are susceptible to this, but you could also run candidates in general elections in strongly Democratic districts, where people tend to vote Democratic in the 60-80% range.
I just gave half a dozen examples of how third parties have successfully affected the U.S political scene leftward in the past. This was with the same FPTP system that we have today, and with arguably stronger major parties in power.
Of course this can't happen in a vacuum, a new labor movement needs to arise too -- for example, but it does need to happen nevertheless.
