Quote:
Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop
On both sides, changes in campaign finance and information technology have weakened the institutional role of the parties. It doesn't mean that a third (or fourth) party is going to come into being. It means that the parties are weak. They don't control the money, or much of anything else.
Where is the point where a Republican or Democrat should rationally walk away from their party to join a third party if he or she wants more clout? Um, never? The ability to influence the choice of one of the top two people on the ballot is much more valuable than the ability to influence the choice of the third (or fourth) person on the ballot.
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We've always had weak parties. They go from really weak to very weak and back again in cycles.
Getting more parties requires a change to our voting, either to a proportional representation system with multiple candidates per district (Massachusetts did this for state elections back when we were sprouts) or a plurality wins electoral system.
