Picture one day where it’s Autumn and you’re attending a pep rally for the upcoming football game. The mascots, with pool noodles, battle for their lives on the gymnast mats. One mascot falls, and students roar with excitement and undying hatred for the opposing school. It’s an extreme and barbaric take, and yet accurately depicts the unwarranted rivalries among schools.
Only I’m not talking about high school, this is the unfortunate reality of the U.S. political system. Candidates from two parties, Democratic and Republican, run against each other with opposing values, naturally accumulating hatred from the people. It’s utterly ridiculous how these parties’ antithesis have created a divide among the supporters, in which they’ve created hatred toward each other.
This divide in our nation is awfully embarrassing with the January 6 United States Capitol attack, the social media slander, and humiliating presidential debates circulating around golf skills. There is no middle ground, and despite having third parties, it’s evident we are run by a two party system. This two party system is one proven to be problematic and being more harmful than what it was intended to do. Some countries are run by a multi-party system, a structure the U.S. ought to adopt.
For example, Iceland consists of a constitutional republic with a multi-party system where the executive power is run by the government. Iceland has a voter turnout of 81.2% of those who registered, while the United States stands at 65.4%. This difference in civic engagement displays the higher satisfaction in Iceland toward their various candidates, compared to the U.S.’s depressing turnout where citizens would rather not vote than vote for a candidate that does not represent them. Other countries with a higher voter turnout than the U.S. also include Austria, Germany, and Türkiye.
It shouldn’t be the norm where citizens don’t feel seen in their country. The Republican and Democratic parties follow two different extremes, leaving many people unrepresented and their issues and crisis’s unaddressed. If there was equal opportunity for third parties, such as the Green Party or Libertarian Party, there would be much higher representation for the people.
The Green Party, for example, prioritizes the protection of the environment, but they also advocate for social justice, such as price ceilings and a strong security system in order to improve America’s quality of life. The Libertarian party values individual liberty, as well as the avoidance of military intervention in other countries. Both parties address issues that the Democratic and Republican parties fail to even acknowledge, but are unable to win due to lack of recognition and votes.
However, that can change. It’s a democracy for a reason, the people hold the power. If a third party were to gain a minimum of 15% of the national electorate, they’d qualify to participate in a presidential debate, ensuring the nation wouldn’t have to be stuck between a rock and a hard place, weighing the lesser of the two evils.
It’s insane that it’s the twentieth century and we’re still upholding a political system dating back to 1796! Even then, the writers of the Constitution did not support the ideology of political parties, and yet the nation is dominated by two of them. Not only as Americans, but as people we have evolved and in order to have a flourishing society, it’s time our political system evolves too.
As Americans, as humans, we should fight for our beliefs and not settle for the bare minimum when it comes to living. All it takes are small steps, because collectively they drastically alter the polls. So when the next presidential election rolls around, take a step and educate others on third parties and support a party that supports you.
