Two-party system
There are several states in the world, where politics is dominated by two parties. This is known as two-party system. According to Giovanni Sartori, the following is true for such as system:
- Each of the two parties is able to reach an absolute majority in parliament
- When there are elections, usually one of the two parties wins an absolute majority
- The party that is elected wants to rule alone
- There's a large probability that with elections, the ruling party will change over time
The Median voter theorem describes such a system: While at first the parties have programmes that are very different from each other, over time, they will get closer. Hotelling's law also describes this in game theory.
Note that in such systems, there may also be other parties, bur these rarely have enough influence to win majorities in elections.
Two Examples of countries that have a two party system are the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Two-party System Media
In a two-party system, voters have mostly two options; in this sample ballot for an election in Summit, New Jersey, voters can choose between a Republican or Democrat, but there are no third party candidates.
Economist Jeffrey D. Sachs
According to one view, the winner-takes-all system discourages voters from choosing third party or independent candidates, and over time the process becomes entrenched so that only two major parties become viable.
Party affiliation in the United States according to a 2004 study: Democratic with 72 million, Republican with 55 million and third parties collectively with 42 million registered citizens
Equestrian portrait of William III by Jan Wyck, commemorating the landing at Brixham, Torbay, 5 November 1688
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Related pages
- Multi-party system - A system where there are many parties, Sometimes, several parties work together in government.
- One-party state - There's only one party, but sometimes people can choose from different candidates of that party.