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Let’s Abolish the Two-Party System— and Make it 10 Parties
An admittedly speculative but genuinely hopeful argument for an alternate future of American politics
Imagine: not just Elizabeth Warren the presidential candidate, but the leader of the “Proud Patriots of the Left” party. Not just Bernie Sanders, but the “Direct Action” party founder. Andrew Yang? The “Direct Deposit” party might be catchy. Joe Biden could head up “The Shaky Center Holds” while Pete Buttigieg could run as the candidate of “Little Experience Is The Best Experience.” Mike Bloomberg? I don’t know. How about “35 Million Here, 35 Million There”?
I jest, of course. But imagine, in other words, a world in which each candidate — for all the vivid differences between them — does not merely edge closer to the other as they all vie to be the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. Instead of one undifferentiated mega-party of the center-left, you would have these different personalities, each with their distinct intellectual vision, negotiating a place for their values and vision as the head of a smaller party within the Democrats’ robust, diverse coalition.
This is what is known as a parliamentary party system, and in one form or another it is the democratic norm in well over 100 countries around the world. We may…
