THE NEXT ROSS PEROT MIGHT NOT BE CRAZY: THE FUTURE OF THE TWO-PARTY SYSTEM

Here I look at the American two party system in comparison to the parliamentary or multi-party systems we find in other advanced democracies.

Our system is flawed to be sure, and in this election the Republicans are being challenged by the nomination of a candidate, Mitt Romney, who is not channeling the fundamental energies of the party. It’s driving the conservatives crazy and is super fun to watch for the tribal liberal in me. But it is suboptimal in helping us as a society to steer the ship of state in a way where competing perspectives have been adequately metabolized.

Nevertheless this election will be meaningful, because although both sides are avoiding specific policy agendas, they are espousing general principles that are adequately differentiated. Romney will steer us more in the direction of the private sector, Obama will steer us more in the direction of the public sector. The hard beauty of elections is that one side will win, for now…