Jump to content

A third party in Congress---what exactly would happen?


Recommended Posts

Sorry, I meant that in DRC and the US the presidential election is a one-off event with multiple candidates, unlike France and many other countries which have a two-round system. In general, this means that if no candidate gets a majority of votes in the first round then there is a run-off election between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-round_system

Thus marginal candidates are out of the running in the second round and can’t split the vote. I suspect we will see more of these third, fourth and n’th party candidates in the US. 

The other problem stateside is the Electoral College with its basis in a (generally) winner-take-all, state-by-state system rather than a simple, national vote. Republican candidates are tending to get a smaller proportion of the popular vote over time so  the only way they can win is by getting all the Electoral College votes in a sufficient number of smaller states to overcome that disadvantage. It also means that candidates ignore states where the outcome is already decided like California and concentrate on the ‘battleground’ states. 

Edited by SpankyMcFarland
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, SpankyMcFarland said:

Sorry, I meant that in DRC and the US the presidential election is a one-off event with multiple candidates, unlike France and many other countries which have a two-round system. In general, this means that if no candidate gets a majority of votes in the first round then there is a run-off election between the two candidates with the highest number of votes. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-round_system

Thus marginal candidates are out of the running in the second round and can’t split the vote. I suspect we will see more of these third, fourth and n’th party candidates in the US. 

The other problem stateside is the Electoral College with its basis in a (generally) winner-take-all, state-by-state system rather than a simple, national vote. Republican candidates are tending to get a smaller proportion of the popular vote over time so  the only way they can win is by getting all the Electoral College votes in a sufficient number of smaller states to overcome that disadvantage. It also means that candidates ignore states where the outcome is already decided like California and concentrate on the ‘battleground’ states. 

Well, that's the danger of being a "predictable" voter, or someone who is loyal to one party: your vote is "expected" and the party or candidate in question doesn't have to work for your vote, since you've just given it away readily. Notice that battleground states are the ones that can go either way. Ohio for example, which is the mother of all battleground states, has a large percentage of moderate unaffiliated voters.

Maybe if people stopped treating federal politics like baseball (rooting for the "home team" and only caring that they win) they would have more power over politicians, however many parties there were/are.

Edited by JamesHackerMP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Tell a friend

    Love Repolitics.com - Political Discussion Forums? Tell a friend!
  • Member Statistics

    • Total Members
      10,714
    • Most Online
      1,403

    Newest Member
    wopsas
    Joined
  • Recent Achievements

    • Venandi went up a rank
      Explorer
    • Jeary earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Venandi went up a rank
      Apprentice
    • Gaétan earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • Dictatords earned a badge
      First Post
  • Recently Browsing

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...