Forum Post: A single demand that could make the MOST CHANGE

The political game is rigged. Two parties control the entire political system, but besides rhetoric, are they really all that different? Impossibly high barriers prevent third parties from every gaining ground in the election process. Namely, the fact that we have what is called a WINNER-TAKES-ALL SYSTEM. It basically means that whichever party/candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes in a state gets all of those votes. For example, California gets 55 electoral votes. If one party gets just 28 votes (which is barely a majority), all 55 votes count to that party/candidate in the general election. This effectively means that ANY VOTE FOR A THIRD PARTY IS ALWAYS A WASTED VOTE. What we need is proportional representation (used in Europe). This would allow for a multitude of parties to flourish, effectively breaking the status quo of our stagnant political system and allowing for real, significant change. Additionally, a dynamic political system such as this would by its very nature SEVERELY LIMIT THE POWER CORPORATIONS HAVE OVER OUR POLITICAL PARTIES. As more factors define our election process, it gets exponentially more difficult for corporations to influence our government. Now naturally, nothing has ever been done by Congress to really institute this kind of reform, as it is obviously against the interests of the two parties to have their positions of power so radically altered. But I ask you this: How many times during an election do you vote for the LESSER OF TWO EVILS? How many times have you wanted to vote for an independent candidate, only to recoil at the prospect of a WASTED VOTE? The only way to win the game, is to change the rules! Bring about change by DEMANDING that congress institute political party reform... They say we don't have a defined goal. We do... To break the STATUS QUO. This single demand, by itself, could change everything.

Also, its important to note that in a multi-party system more than one party can win. How is this possible you say? Parties that are like-minded can form "coalitions" with each other (if they wish). This system is used in Europe to great effect.

Interesting Note: Proportional representation was instituted in New York for a time, causing other cities to follow suit. It resulted in a very vigorous political system with five political parties. It significantly reduced the power of the individual party bosses though, and it threatened the whole "two-party" political dynamic that democrats and republicans had tried so hard to cultivate. They launched a very successful fear campaign during the Red Scare telling Americans how PR was a "the political importation from the Kremlin," "the first beachhead of Communist infiltration in this country," and "an un-American practice which has helped the cause of communism and does not belong in the American way of life." PR was repealed by a very wide margin. Once PR had fallen in New York, many other cities followed suit. In Cincinnati (1957), the two parties utilized racism by warning that PR would result in a "Negro Mayor". There is only one city remaining today with a PR system: Cambridge, Massachusetts. The home of Harvard and MIT, and one of the smartest cities in the nation.

This provides some good information on the third party and the barriers it faces: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_party_(United_States)