996
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2026
996 points (100.0% liked)
Political Memes
12364 readers
2173 users here now
Welcome to politcal memes!
These are our rules:
1) Be civil
Jokes are okay, but don’t intentionally harass or disturb any member of our community. Sexism, racism and bigotry are not allowed. Good faith argumentation only. No posts discouraging people to vote or shaming people for voting.
2) No misinformation
Don’t post any intentional misinformation. When asked by mods, provide sources for any claims you make.
3) Posts should be memes
Random pictures do not qualify as memes. Relevance to politics is required.
4) No bots, spam or self-promotion
Follow instance rules, ask for your bot to be allowed on this community.
5) No AI generated content.
Content posted must not be created by AI with the intent to mimic the style of existing images
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
it's almost like a two party system was a bad idea
OR a uniparty/coalition. its 2 right wing parties, 1less than the other joining forces. the less right wing from time to time is allowed to win, throw in some "progress" but not enough to change things dramatically. Also they depend on the right wing for survival as much as the alt-right depend on the dems for survival. its a codependancy.
It's not a two-party system. It's a one-party system disguised as a two-party system.
It's not the Democrats vs the Republicans
It's the oligarchs vs the people.
The democratic party is overflowing with oligarch sychophants.
Congress is full of people who will talk about progressive points, then vote the other way.
why no one create a third one? is it blocked somehow?
Winner‑take‑all voting: whoever gets the most votes wins the entire seat. This strongly pushes voters toward two large parties because voting for a third party risks “splitting the vote.
Ballot access laws: Each state sets its own rules for getting on the ballot. Many require tens of thousands of signatures, strict deadlines, or high fees. Major parties get automatic ballot access; third parties must constantly re‑qualify.
Debate exclusion: The Commission on Presidential Debates requires a candidate to poll at 15% nationally to appear on the stage. No modern third‑party candidate has reached that threshold, so they never get mass exposure.
Campaign financing laws: Public funding rules require a party to have earned at least 5% of the vote in the previous election. Without that, they get no federal funding. Major parties have massive donor networks and PAC ecosystems.
Democrats and Republicans control state election boards, local party organizations, volunteer networks, and voter‑data operations. Third parties lack the institutional machinery needed to compete.
Strategic voting psychology: Even voters who like third‑party candidates often vote major‑party to prevent the “greater evil.” This self‑reinforcing cycle keeps third parties small.
Media coverage patterns: News outlets are all owned by the two‑parties. Polling firms often exclude third‑party candidates from surveys, which then justifies excluding them from coverage.
State-level laws Some states have “sore loser” laws, fusion‑voting bans, or rules that make it nearly impossible for third parties to maintain ballot status.
The system is designed to keep third parties at arm's length.
It's a consequence of our voting system.
If two parties that have similar ideals (call it A1 and A2) enter an election with another opposing party (call it B1), benefits the opponent, because people who agree with either A1 or A2 can only vote for one.
You can end up in a position where 30% of people vote for A1, 30% for A2, and 40% for B1. Because A1 and A2 were so similar, neither of them can achieve plurality, despite their message itself being more popular, and the race goes to B1.
Btw, back in 2000, the Green party got enough votes in Florida that, had they instead voted for Gore, the whole "chad" debacle would've been a non-issue. I guess Gore wasn't environmentalist enough for them. Bush/Cheney ended up winning...and they certainly were not environmentalist in the least.
I credit this for being the historical turning point where everything really started going to shit. Bush v Gore and the chads. And thus, to this day, I'm a tree-hugging hippy who will gladly say: fuck the green party.
...To take it a step further, in order to attract centrist or opponent voters, the party has to be moderate/centrist. It cannot be exceedingly progressive, or it will lose its more moderate members.
In essence, the voting system causes two party systems, and the "big tent" party causes the big tent to suck and always move opposite the driection it really should.
Almost? Politics isn't a sporting event. Seeing them turn everything into black or white is so close minded. Most things have many shades of grey. We should have that many candidates to choose from.
i should've added an /s