Adriana M. answered • 12/17/20
Experienced Middle/High School History, English, and Spanish Teacher
Hi Michael,
A two-party system is a system in which two major political parties dominate voting in nearly all elections at every level of government and the majority of elected offices are members of one of the two major parties. The United States is an example of a two-party system in which the majority of elected officials are either Democrats or Republicans.
In spite of the Founders’ intentions, the United States in 1800 became the first nation to develop explicit political parties. The development and expansion of political parties that followed was closely linked to the broadening of voting rights. In the early days of the republic, only male property owners could vote, but that restriction began to fall apart in the early 19th century as a result of immigration, the growth of cities and other democratizing forces, such as the westward expansion of the country.
Today, the Republican and Democratic parties — both of them originating in the 18th and 19th centuries — dominate the political process. With rare exceptions, the two major parties control the presidency, the Congress, the governorships and the state legislatures.
Things like the Electoral College make it difficult for a 3rd Party to come onto the scene. The absolute majority requirement in voting in the state makes it extremely difficult for a third-party candidate to win the presidency because the individual states’ electoral votes are allocated under a winner-take-all arrangement (with two exceptions).
The parties with so much power have also created electoral rules that work in their favor. For instance, qualifying a new party for the ballot in a state can be an arduous and expensive undertaking, often requiring petitions with tens of thousands of signatures and the ability to attract a sufficient “threshold” proportion of the vote in subsequent elections to remain on the ballot.
There are more reasons, but I hope this gets you started. Good luck!
