Why do voters have to pick a Republican or a Democrat in the US?
Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections?
- Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections?
- Why can’t it be Republican vs. Republican or Democrat vs. Democrat?
- – Gianna, age 13, Phoenix, Arizona
Why does it have to be Democrat vs. Republican in elections? - Why can’t it be Republican vs. Republican or Democrat vs. Democrat?
Why do we have a two-party system?
- It states that only two major parties will emerge whenever elections follow a set of rules known as single-winner plurality voting.
- Single-winner means only one candidate can win a given election.
- Think of it this way: Suppose a teacher threw a class party and agreed to order whatever food the students wanted.
- While other options exist, many voters decide to pick between the only two that can win.
It doesn’t have to be Republican vs. Democrat
- While a Democrat or Republican wins most elections in the United States, that doesn’t mean voters can only have two choices.
- Second, plenty of candidates run for office every year as something other than a Republican or Democrat.
- As my research shows, Libertarians generally agree with the Republican Party on economic issues and the Democratic Party on social issues.
- This system allows voters to rank all candidates – Democratic, Republican, independent or minor party – from their favorite to least favorite on the same ballot.
- So voters often do have more options than simply Democrat vs. Republican.