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Failure of the 2 party system
I'd like to start off by saying that I love being an American. I am also, however, disgusted at American politics at this point.
From my point of view the 2 party system this country runs on has become outdated and has become nothing but a liability of the system. Somewhere between lower level government and upper level (basically once a politician moves up to the House or Senate) there is a disconnect between the politicians and the American people. At that point most policiticans are from that point on doing what is best for their PARTY and not what is best for their COUNTRY and the American people as a whole. This is also the point where special interests begin to dig their claws in to the system.
Everything about politics is expensive. Advertisements, campaign costs, personell, etc... The only way to compete is to be funded by large companies who will, in turn, have you in their back pocket from then on. Even if a new politican has the best intentions they by definition must succum to this practice or face nearly inevitable defeat by their rival who, undoubtedly, will accept the financial assistance and win the election.
In this day and age it really doesn't matter what political parties are in power of any one branch, or even the white house. If one party or another does not control both the House and Senate simultaenously, absolutely nothing of significance will get done for the 4 years of that presidency. Each party/branch will submit legislation that will just get mired and shot down in the other and/or be vetoed by the President himself.
It doesn't help that most legislation these days isn't passed solely on the merit of that single idea/piece of legislation. In order to pass the oppposing party tacks on riders in order for their party to get something they want in order to pass it. This usually results in weaker versions of the legislation passing as it tends to get watered down to the point that the opposing party will allow it to pass ... or else it will simply be bogged down in endless red-tape until it dies a quiet death.
Things I see must be done in order for politics to get back on track.
- Abolish all special interests and donations/gifts. No exceptions.
- Abolish all company-sponsored campaign donations/gifts. NO EXCEPTIONS
- Put a salary cap on all politicans on every level and do YEARLY audits. No gifts are permitted at any time while you are an employee of the people.
- GET RID OF THE PARTY SYSTEM. You represent the people who elected you. Period. For the purposes of a presidental election, I think anyone who can meet certain requirements (mainly sheer number of popular votes) should put you on the ballot.
I'm sure I will think of some more but will add that later.
Comment
A defense of the two party system
Posted by:
Anonymous User
at
2007-06-20
The problem I see with your analysis and policy recommendation is twofold. The first is the government that would result from the abolishment of the party system. If you look to examples like Italy and Israel, where no two or three parties are dominant, the result is complete chaos. Simply put, when you have multiple groups who can only pass by consensus, then you are forced to form coalitions. Think the legislation these days are watered down? Think about if you were trying to pass a piece of liberal legislation and instead of just getting it passed with the republicans, you have to now appease the libertarians, environmentalists, neo-liberals, socialists, communists? (hey, it could happen), etc just to pass it with people who are now democrats! The point of the party system is to combine like-minded people into a party that can establish a coherent philosophy and pursue that philosophy. If you're a democrat, you kind of have to go along with the democratic agenda. Though it restricts a lot of policy makers from really pursuing exactly what they want individually, it allows the government to function as a whole. If you've ever followed Italian politics, it does anything but function. In addition, with two parties you can exchange pieces of legislation with the opposite party, you scratch my back, I scratch your back kind of things. You pass partial birth abortion ban, I'll vote to increase health care benefits, or something along those lines. With multiple parties, the dealings would just grow increasingly complex, and the government would be considerably more indecisive.
The second problem would be the presidential elections that would happen under your plan. Essentially, politicians would have basically no money to promote themselves with. While this does sound kind of appealing, it’s really not what democracy is about. You say, "You represent the people who elected you. Period." but how can you be said to represent them if they barely know who you are? Videos on youtube and some presidential debate coverage is simply not enough. A few minutes on national TV at a debate and a pathetic and cash starved campaign is hardly the ideal platform for getting your message out. TV ads, radio ads, signs, internet websites, all of these things are the political process of our time. Its not great, but how do you imagine it would be better if a large portion of the country voted with almost no knowledge of any of the candidates? Its not a presidential election for the few informed people, its supposed to be for everyone. Special interests are terrible, I totally agree, but unless we are going to start public subsidizing the political process with the kind of money required to run a successful presidential bid, its something were going to have to live with.
I do, on the other hand, totally agree with your point about riders. They should amend the Constitution and make them illegal.