Maybe We Should Just Get Rid Of Political Parties??

[Dinger]

What do you think? Maybe it's dumb, and right now, I'm not in the best frame of mind (Check the Lounge), but if there were no parties, it might make a candidate actually explain where they stand instead of the implication "You know I'm a " D/I/G/r, etc. ", so you already know where I stand."

[Silverhair]

1. Impossible.

Let us assume that your partyless country does have the basic freedoms of speech and assembly and an honest vote. Then those people who have common goals will discover that if they act in together and vote as a block on their shared interest, then they can influence elections. The first political party will have been born. Other interest will then likewise organize.

[FloridaPat]

2. I'd like to see a real third party in this country with a chance to win.

Which means getting rid of the electorial college since the other two corporate parties have everything locked down.

[Dinger]

3. Actually, I Think That's What I Meant

I'd like that too.

[wli]

4. winner-takes-all also also hurts. Proportional representation needed. n/t

[FrenchieCat]

5. A parliementary system is more democratic....

that's true.

[Yupster]

6. As soon as we did it,

they would reappear.

There would be a vote on a tax, and one group of representatives would meet in one room, the other group in another room, and soon you'd have parties again.

Interestingly, the original Constitution did not envision political parties. So here's how the president was to be elected...

Each state legislature would choose "electors" to represent their state. They could not be elected officials, and were expected to be learned and respected citizens.

Those electors would each cast ballots for two citizens they thought would make good presidents. One could not be from their home state.

If no one person got a majority, and there's no reason to think one would very often, then the congress would choose the president from one of the top five electoral vote-getters. The House delegations of each state would get one vote, so the power of each state would be equal. After the president was chosen, the Vice-president would be the candidate with the most electoral votes.

What do you think of that system?

Notice, there is no role for the voters, other than through their state legislators and House members. Even today, a popular vote for president is not Constitutionally mandated. South Carolina didn't have a vote for president until 1868 even though it was one of the original 13 states.

This original system was changed by the Twelfth Amendment as the formation of political parties made it unworkable.

Editted so that Conan The Grammarian wouldn't get me.