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Two Party System Quotes

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Two Party System Quotes

“Come the next election, in a two-party or two-party-plus system, a very small swing amongst the voters, a slight shift of the median voter on the normal distribution curve, may lead to a complete change of government, whereupon a new set of persons takes over, and a new set of ministers accepts collective responsibility for policies which, in some instances, completely overturn the decisions of the former administration. Yet all is due to just a very small swing. Majoritarian politics, which some claim offers stable government, is actually part of a system which perpetuates instability, especially if viewed from a long-term perspective.”

GovernmentPoliticsElectionsMajority RuleTwo Party SystemMajoritarianism
Book:From Majority Rule to Inclusive Politics
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“And it started out fun. We were chattering enthusiastically, flipping between CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News. But as the evening wore on, and the numbers rolled in, it got quieter, and I found myself becoming intensely depressed. Why was I putting myself through this? The issues I’ve devoted my life to have become so marginalized by the coverage that they have no possible relevance to me. I can’t even blame the media — people simply don’t care about alternate-party politics. And why should they? I’m so far in the minority that my activism is a joke, a punchline that stopped being funny years ago. It goes beyond rooting for the underdog. It’s not rooting for the Giants: it’s more like, say, rooting for the Twins. But during the Super Bowl.”

HumorPoliticalFootballBaseballLibertarianTwo Party SystemThird Party
Book:Indecision Now! A Libertarian Rage
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“A New York Times/CBS News poll conducted in early 1992 showed that public opinion on welfare changed depending on how the question was worded. If the word “welfare” was used, 44 percent of those questioned said too much was being spent on welfare (while 50 percent said either that the right amount was being spent, or that too little was being spent. But when the question was about “assistance to the poor,” only 13 percent thought too much was being spent, and 64 percent thought too little was being spent. This suggested that both parties were trying to manufacture an antihumanneeds mood by constant derogatory use of the word “welfare,” and then to claim they were acting in response to public opinion. The Democrats as well as the Republicans had strong connections to wealthy corporations. Kevin Phillips, a Republican analyst of national politics, wrote in 1990 that the Democratic Party was “history’s second-most enthusiastic capitalist party”

AmericaCapitalismWelfareUsaCapitalistTwo Party SystemOne Party America
Book:A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present
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“The most momentous fact about the pattern of American politics is that we live under a persistent, obdurate, one might almost say tyrannical, two-party system. We have the Republicans and we have the Democrats, and we have almost no one else, no other strictly political aggregate that amounts to a corporal's guard in the struggle for power.”

TwoFactsMightPoliticalPartyStruggleAmountRepublicanDemocratPatternsPersistentAmerican PoliticsTwo Party System
Book:Parties and Politics in America
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“The War Party has two wings: the Democrats and the Republicans. All others are outsiders, whose ability to storm the gates is 'legally' restricted by a nearly impassable series of bureaucratic obstacles designed to keep them out while still maintaining the 'democratic' illusion, i.e. the phony two-party system, which is in reality a single entity.”

StillsTwoWarRealityAbilityPartyRepublicanIllusionWingsDemocraticSeriesDemocratObstaclesStormGatesOutsidersEntityMaintainingPhonyTwo Party System
Author:Justin Raimondo
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“There is nothing I dread so much as the division of the republic into two great parties, each arranged under its leader, and concerting measures in opposition to each other. This, in my humble apprehension, is to be dreaded as the greatest political evil under our constitution.”

TwoGovernmentPoliticalEvilPartyLeaderConstitutionHumbleOppositionDivisionRepublicDreadPolitical PartiesApprehensionTwo Party SystemGreat PartyOpposition PartiesGreatest Political
Book:The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: With a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations
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“In this rigged, two-party system, third parties almost never win a national election. It's obvious what our function is in this constricted oligarchy of two corporate-indentured parties - to push hitherto taboo issues onto the public stage, to build for a future, to get a young generation in, keep the progressive agenda alive, push the two parties a little bit on this issue and that.”

LittlesTwoYoungWinningBitsPartyIssuesAliveGenerationsStageLittle BitThirdsFunctionElectionObviousCorporateAgendasProgressiveTabooOligarchyRiggedThird PartiesYoung GenerationTwo Party System
Author:Ralph Nader
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“Politics is a damn expensive business. I had one hell of a time trying to raise money as a candidate. I had to put a second mortgage on our house to get that campaign started, and I ended up spending over $300,000 to get elected. I believe that public financing of federal election campaigns is the only thing that will insure good candidates and save the two-party system. It is the most degrading thing in the world to go out with your hat in your hand and beg for money, but that's what you have to do if you haven't got your own resources.”

IfsWorldTryingBelieveTwoHandsHouseI BelievePartyHellHavensResourcesRaisesElectionSpendingCampaignsDamnCandidatesExpensiveHatsMortgageDegradingFinancingTwo Party System
Author:Joe Biden
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“The two-party system is a bad joke on the American people; when it comes to Republicans and Democrats remember they are two sides of the same coin. Voting for the lesser of two evils is still a vote for evil and not an answer to our problems. A vote for a Republican or a Democrat will not fix anything and is a wasted vote.”

PeopleStillsTwoProblemRememberEvilSidesAnswersPartyRepublicanJokesVoteDemocratVotingCoinsTwo SidesLesser EvilTwo EvilsTwo Party SystemLesser Of Two EvilsBad Jokes
Author:Aaron Russo
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“The US two party system is very different, of course. Here the people decides about who should rule them, but it is not reasonable to claim that the people rules itself through the political institutions. In comparison, I find that the standard European system is better, also as a model for global democracy.”

PeopleShouldTwoDifferentPoliticalCoursesPartyDemocracyModelsStandardsClaimsInstitutionsReasonableComparisonPolitical InstitutionsTwo Party System
Author:Torbjorn Tannsjo
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“In The United States, the only real change I know has been Instant Runoff, which is usually applied to municipal elections. I see no real improvement. There's another aspect which comes out of the two-party system, which the primary, a funny kind of two-stage election. And people certainly have complained.”

PeopleKnowsKindHas BeensTwoRealStatesUnitedPartyUnited StatesStageAspectElectionImprovementPrimariesInstantReal ChangeTwo Party System
Author:Kenneth Arrow
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“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism.”

DifferentCountryAgeSpiritPoliticsNaturalPartyRevengePermanentLengthFormalPolitical PartiesDominationDespotismFactionsFarewell AddressDissensionDifferent AgesTwo Party SystemPartisan Politics
Book:The speeches, addresses and messages, of the several presidents of the United States, at the openings of Congress and at their respective inaugurations: Also, the Declaration of independence, the Constitution of the United States, and Washington's farewell address to his fellow-citizens
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“The only thing dumber than a Democrat or a Republican is when those pricks work together. You see, in our two-party system, the Democrats are the party of no ideas and the Republicans are the party of bad ideas. It usually goes something like this. A Republican will stand up in Congress and say, 'I've got a really bad idea.' And a Democrat will immediately jump to his feet and declare, 'And I can make it sh*ttier.'”

I CanTwoIdeasTogetherPartyFeetRepublicanDemocratCongressNo IdeaWorking TogetherBad IdeasTwo Party System
Author:Lewis Black
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“But Al Jazeera America represents something more than news that isn’t profit or ratings driven — they represent foreign investment in a country where the two-party system outsourced your jobs. They represent facts over opinion and they represent our cultures coming together just a little more, whether you bigots like it or not.”

LittlesTwoCountryFactsTogetherJobsAmericaCulturePartyOpinionNewsInvestmentProfitDrivenAlsRatingBigotsComing TogetherTwo Party SystemOutsourced
Author:John Fugelsang
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