From Bipartisanship to Democracy: The 5-Party System.

The American system of politics is based on the capacity of the people to intelligently pick one of two approaches to government, to choose between two parties. Given the fact that the United States have one of the most diverse populations in the world, spread out over a large federalized land or collection of states, making that choice between just two societal ideologies is a rather daunting if not impossible task. The advent of the internet and other technologies that have rendered physical borders irrelevant have also contributed to a more diversified system of thoughts. Furthermore, the United Stated continue the demographic trend toward more diversity leading to the inevitability of a minority-majority country in just a few more years. With those facts in mind, it is not surprising that the political conversations have increasingly become more confrontational and more radical. Both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have become more threatened by extremists in their respective corner. Party leaders, especially in the Republican party recently, have resorted in promoting conspiracy theories, misleading messaging if not outright lies, and voting restrictions in order to survive politically. The louder, more intransigent voices who deride compromises, embrace conspiracies and encouraged by demagogues in power have become the more influential ones despite being in the minority. Because of the great diversity of the American society compared with the extreme polarization of American politics, the two-party system can no longer provide the balance of contrasting ideas while guaranteeing the rule of the majority. The two-party system can no longer protect us from the influence of radical ideas, the threat of fringe populism with anti-establishment, anti-tradition, anti-norm, insurrectionist tendencies. The two-party system has failed and is obsolete. Bipartisanship currently resides at the home of extremism while the house of moderation is set on fire and the majority is left homeless.

I propose a five-party system that would include the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, the Democratic Party, the Liberal Party and the New America Party. These five parties cover, in my opinion, enough of the ideological diversity that exist in our contemporary politics and social discourse. The Libertarian Party would defend the tendencies of many on the right and some of the left who prioritize their personal freedom over everything. The Liberal Party would defend a group on the left who wants more drastic changes on social issues and the environment. The New America Party would represent the interests of people who believe that the current system, including the electoral process, laws, policing, etc., needs to be totally revamped. More importantly, the new five-party system would also force both politicians and voters to compromise and to be more open to a mosaic of ideas that truly represent the ideal of this nation and would allow us to take full advantage of what is the unique strength of the United States of America: diversity.