We donât like the two-party system. So why do we have it? Help keep Vox free for everybody: http://www.vox.com/give-now Americaâs two-party system is widely hated. Very few Americans think the two major parties do an adequate job representing us, and most say more parties are needed. But when it comes time to vote, very few of us actually vote for third-party candidates. Often, this is explained as either a failure of will (weâd have third parties if more people would just vote for them), or a conspiracy (the political and media establishments suppress third-party candidates and ideas). And itâs not that those things arenât true. But thereâs a much simpler explanation, and itâs the very basic rule governing almost every single one of our elections: Only one person can win. If youâre American, that probably sounds utterly reasonable: what the hell other kinds of elections even are there? But the answer is: lots. Winner-take-all elections (also called plurality voting, or âfirst past the postâ) are actually a practice that most advanced democracies left behind long ago â and theyâre what keep us from having more political options. Even if youâre not sold on the need for more parties in the US, though, scratch the surface of âonly one person can winâ a little and you start to see how it actually produces perverse results within the two-party system as well. Itâs a big part of why the political parties have moved farther apart from each other, and it leaves about
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