Since the founding of the United States, there have been two main parties. Disagreeing on whether the constitution should be ratified, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton helped in founding the first political parties while serving on George Washington’s cabinet (ushistory.org). Starting with the Federalist and the Democratic-Republican parties, then Democratic Party and the National Republican Party, and then the Democratic and Whig Parties, and finally to the now well-known rivalry between the Democratic and Republican Parties, the two-party system is a long-standing tradition in the United states (Blake). The two-party system definitely has some advantages. It allows for political stability, a smaller pool of candidates for public office, a simplified version of political information, and the representation of multiple political ideals (“9 Advantages and Disadvantages”). However, the two-party system’s disadvantages outweigh these positives. At the state and local level, the two-party system has a negative effect on the government and voters, it ignores options outside of the main two parties, and is perpetuated by many …show more content…
The power struggle between the two main parties causes conflict within governments and between governments and their people when the people are not properly represented, and trifectas can cause bills that represents a minority of the overall population to quickly become law and legislations, distancing themselves from the people that they are supposed to govern. Minorities, such as women and people of color, are underrepresented under a two-party system, and third and independent parties rarely get elected seats. In the end, America would benefit from a new system that would create more options and provide better representation than the current two-party system that is in place. As J.T. Young