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Pete Davis
Debock
English 4 Honors
4 March 2015
Strength of The Two-Party System
For well over 200 years, the United States of America has relied on a two-party system of
elections on nearly every level of government. However, whether or not it is the best possible
system of electing officials has been heavily debated from the very beginning of the formation of
the United States. The founding fathers of the United States were understandably skeptical of
creating a carbon copy of the very system that they had just escaped from in Great Britain, which
had practically encouraged greed and corruption (Jacobs 1). While the same criticisms of the
two-party system that existed then are still prevalent today, perhaps the most relevant concern is
that the two-party system has become obsolete, therefore rendering it unable to meet the needs of
United States citizens (Baderstcher 1). Ive concluded that in order to address modern social
issues, growing economic concerns, and come up with innovative solutions to contemporary
problems, the two-party system needs to be entirely eliminated from the United States electoral
process.
Although there has always fundamentally been a two-party system of electing
government officials in the United States, the concept of two major parties ruling for an
extremely extended period was nearly unheard of. In fact, according to W.E. Jacobs, In truth the
"two-party system" has always relied on a large measure of mythology, often supported in
newspaper accounts and sometimes backed by electoral laws written for the convenience of
whichever set of politicians were dominant at the moment(Jacobs 1). In fact, the two major

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political factions that exist today--Republicans and Democrats--did not exist until during the
industrial revolution. Political parties typically evolve around the fundamental issues of an era. If
the United States has maintained the same political system that arose while the country was
industrializing, how could that same political system possibly be ideal in the twenty-first century
despite the extent of change in American society over the past century (Jacobs 1)?
The British government which the United States founding fathers escaped from maintains
a striking resemblance to the current political system the United States has developed. Rather
than the Republican and Democratic parties, Britain passed control between the Tories and the
Whigs. According to Eric Baderstcher, The colonists distrusted both sides as "corrupt factions"
that were mostly interested in their own power. Instead, colonists wanted to choose leaders based
on their character, rather than party membership(1). Although James Madison recognized the
potential dangers of political factions, he understood that political factions would always exist,
particularly in a large country with so many varying interests (Baderstcher 2).
The two principal political parties in the United States have always represented an
extremely broad spectrum. Long-forgotten groups including Anti-Masons, the Greenback Party,
and the Free Soil Party have come and gone after succombing to the incredibly extensive reach
of the typically moderate Republicans or Democrats that third party candidates were running for
political office against (Evenger 1). The two-party system has influenced candidates to stray
from their core convictions in order to reach the general population. If there were multiple parties
that represented different sides of the political spectrum, there would be more room for those
parties to evolve and solve contemporary issues in American society while simultaneously
tackling the issues of the United States constantly evolving foreign policy (Jacobs 1).

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In order to address modern social issues, growing economic concerns, and come up with
innovative solutions to contemporary problems, the two-party system needs to be entirely
eliminated from the United States electoral process. The United States of America was built upon
a foundation of change (Jacobs 1). Every legal document written by the founding fathers of this
country encouraged and were prepared for the constantly evolving political landscape that was
sure to come (Baderstcher 1). It is imperative that new groups begin to form and rise to power in
order to identify new solutions rather than continuing to use recycled ideas and solutions of
yesteryear. The industrial economy needs to be re-examined along with the natural environment.
These sort of issues are simply too difficult to tackle under our current age old political system.

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Works Cited
Baderstcher, Eric. "Political Parties: An Overview." Ebsco Host. Lakeside Publishing
Group, LLC, 1 Jan. 2014.
Evinger, Barbara. "The "Two-party System" Is Alive and Well in American Politics."
Ebsco Host. Lakeside Publishing Group, LLC, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.
Jacobs, W.E. "The Two-party System in the United States Has Broken Down." Ebsco
Host. Lakeside Publishing Group, LLC, 1 Jan. 2014. Web. 20 Feb. 2015.