Will we see the birth of a viable third party in the next 20-30 years?

[TipTok]

As we see large splits in both groups, could we see a new party grow from that 25-75th percentile of the political spectrum?

Or is the 2 party system too firmly cemented in American politics?

Maybe the new group would have a more libertarian bent that would appeal to the social needs of the left and the government and military needs of the right?

The Hillary style democrats will eventually age out and the republicans are already split.

[Baobab]

1. Many Americans will likely have emigrated away by then.

People have to have a life, the amount of time people can wait - biological clocks, etc. people who want children need to have a future under an honest government, with affordable health care and education, and good jobs.

[VulgarPoet]

4. But where the hell country is that?

It's almost like when Clinton passes TPP, there won't be a place on earth to escape her globalizing claws. And good jobs will desert America in droves.

[Baobab]

6. wherever - some other country will become the new "America"

Change wont happen here, they would never allow that.

Jobs are going awy fast and thats why the trade deals lock down the future, forever.

Too much $$$ at stake to let democracy ever happen here.

No, we Americans have to get the worst deal of all to show they only care about BUSINESS.

[cemaphonic]

2. No, the 2 party setup is just too much of a stable equilibrium with our political system

Every decently-sized third party has been absorbed into (or in a couple cases, supplanted) one of the majors. A lot of analysts think there might be a realignment going on though. Consider that ~60 years ago, blacks and liberal urban professionals were solidly Republican, and rural white Southerners were the unshakable core of the Democratic coalition.

I wouldn't be surprised if the two parties evolved into a Populist vs. Technocratic split.

[LiberalFighter]

3. Anyone trying to form a third party is doomed to failure.

The reason being they don't understand what is needed. There are several requirements. 1) They have candidates at every level of government, not just the President, 2) They have a party structure that is at every level like the other two parties.

[YouDig]

5. It's not really possible with the way the electoral system is.

When it's winner-take-all, there can only be two parties, because a third party would act as a spoiler to whatever major party is closest to it. Other countries with multi-party systems have different election rules.

[nemo137]

11. Bingo!

Real, lasting, effective, electoral reform is my personal political pony.

[YouDig]

12. Electoral reform would be great. Gonna be tough, though, probably would require

a constitutional amendment. And then there's the problem that neither of the two parties have anything to gain by making the system more friendly to third parties.

[nemo137]

13. There's a lot that can be done on a state by state level

That's the silver lining for our brick-stupid electoral system. But yeah, it's a hard sell and I can't imagine it happening any time soon, which is why it's my pony.

[YouDig]

14. True, but it really needs to be done across the country if we are going to have a system

that genuinely allows more than two parties.

If it were up to me, we would get rid of the senate, and instead of electing house members by district, they would be elected state-wide by proportional representation in each state. That way there's no gerrymandering, third parties can get seats without getting an outright majority, and also we don't have the senate where California has the same number of senators as states like North Dakota. Election day would be a national holiday. And president would be elected by popular vote, no electoral college.

I'm on the fence about mandatory voting, but something needs to be done to get participation up.

So that's my fantasy electoral system. How would you ideally like to see it done?

[nemo137]

15. Well, if I'm dreaming...

Pretty close to yours. Junk the senate, peg the the number of house seats using something like the Wyoming rule, automatic registration, no more electoral college. I'm for keeping congressional districts in some form, because I think that different regions even within a state have different priorities, and should be able to have representatives who would be responsive to that.

I'm not sure a presidential system as we have now is the right way to go (seems to tend towards instability), but I also don't think a Westminster-style system would solve our particular set of problems.

[bjo59]

7. I really wonder what this country will be like in another 20 or 30 years and if we'll even

still be voting by then. Time doesn't stand still and the global financial elite are very well aware of that. They're working overtime to eradicate national sovereignty (think those secret "free" trade deals Obama has been working so feverishly on). We are so used to there always being a time in the future that things will change for the better that we can't imagine a time when time has run out. I'd love to see both the Democratic and Republican parties split. I also fear that democracy is on its very last legs at this point in history. I'm pretty sure that the powers that be have taken note of both the rise of Bernie Sanders and the rise of Donald Trump and have begun to plan for the future accordingly. They need to have people zonked out in front of their television sets or starving in their fields. Any serious organization of a counterforce must be stopped. (And that's why I think it's so important for Sanders to make it into the White House now before the corporate overlords and their corrupt government henchmen get more time to erect a global corporate totalitarian system in which it will not matter what happens within political parties.)

[VulgarPoet]

9. Either Shadowrun or Fallout.

Pick your slow death.

[0rganism]

8. nope

we will however see the remnants of the Republican party trying to scrape itself together as a major political force post-realignment.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

10. Hopefully, sooner. The system now is too corrupt to govern democratically.