I know next to nothing about political systems.
It seems to me that most countries have a multi-party system and that they have two large parties that occasionally swop power.
Does the multiparty system somehow encourage the second biggest party to grow?
Why is there rarely a party that can satisfy say 90% of the voters?
In other words is there some weird system that ensures that half the contentious issues go to each party?
Does it have to do with the ruling party getting too cocky, and is it partly because people naturally dislike the ruling party more than the runner up?
If you did have one large party like that, it seems to me that the internal tensions within the party would be very large. Any political party is going to contain differences, and it's often pragmatic reasons that keep them together. With no credible opposition, I think many parties would split of their own accord.
On top of which, you'd probably need a very fair and equal society for it to be remotely possible to satisfy 90% of the electorate with one set of policies.
Originally posted by mtthwThats interesting. I hadn't thought of that.
If you did have one large party like that, it seems to me that the internal tensions within the party would be very large. Any political party is going to contain differences, and it's often pragmatic reasons that keep them together. With no credible opposition, I think many parties would split of their own accord.
On top of which, you'd probably need a very fair and equal society for it to be remotely possible to satisfy 90% of the electorate with one set of policies.
So do fair and equal societies not exist? Isn't that one of the goals of democracy?
Originally posted by twhiteheadIdeally, for the sake of "absolute power" there should only be one party without dissent. However, for the sake of the appearance of choice we have a two party system in the US.
I know next to nothing about political systems.
It seems to me that most countries have a multi-party system and that they have two large parties that occasionally swop power.
Does the multiparty system somehow encourage the second biggest party to grow?
Why is there rarely a party that can satisfy say 90% of the voters?
In other words is there some w ...[text shortened]... cky, and is it partly because people naturally dislike the ruling party more than the runner up?