RONNIE SAENZ / ASST. OPINION EDITOR

When Americans go to the polls next November to choose their next president, they are participating in a decision that will have lasting repercussions for themselves,  the world and future generations. Yet, because there are only two major political parties, the Democratic and Republican parties, the most important decision in many Americans’ lives has the same amount of options as a true or false exam: two. 

Even though there are third party candidates, they seldom win elections and have never won a presidential election. Fact of the matter is, the likelihood of winning an election depends on whether or not you are a part of one of the two major parties in the U.S.: Republican or Democrat. This means candidates have to adapt  their  political positions to keep support within those parties. As a result, many voters’ opinions won’t get represented. This is problematic because survey data taken in November 2023 by Gallup shows nearly half of Americans identify as politically independent. A candidate should not have to change their values in order to run, if this many people are unrepresented by the two parties. They should have the support of a party who aligns closer to their views, and that is exactly what adding more parties would do. Specifically, splitting the Democratic and Republican parties each in half would create the needed diversity of opinion giving us four total parties.

A multiparty system would allow voters a wider range of options as to who to vote for, and give minority populations more voice in elections. At the moment, only two parties have to care for the wide range of opinions across the U.S. With multiple parties, you can have each party represent more targeted interests in America. This means minority populations will finally have the opportunity to get their voices heard, instead of having to side with what is the closest to their voice: often having to pick the lesser of two perceived evils. This will be extremely beneficial to minorities especially as parties no longer have to do the bare minimum to gain their support, they actually have to try to represent minority populations in the U.S.

It’s not that diverse opinions don’t already exist within the Democratic and Republican parties, but creating new parties will allow them to get better representation. It would limit the amount of infighting between parties, and allow voters to focus  more  on  the  actual messages of the parties and candidates instead of the bickering and infighting between Republicans and Democrats. 

There are those who say the two party system is necessary, because it allows the U.S. government to run faster than a multiparty system. Although  there are other democracies who run fine on a multiparty system, such as the UK and Mexico, the U.S. is one of the largest democratic governments in the world. So, speed and efficiency is essential, unlike in other smaller democracies.

The two party system argument is partially valid, but the issue is that it doesn’t account for the inefficiencies a two-party system creates. Sure, the government can take action quickly, but many of the laws a party passes will only be reversed after the other party gets the majority in the next election cycle. One example is when former-President Trump took office in 2016 and ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Trump reversed many of the decisions his predecessor, Barack Obama, had made, only for President Biden to reverse Trump’s decisions, as Biden has already taken steps to bring back DACA and ACA. This gross inefficiency would be reduced with more than two parties, as they would have to make more compromises amongst themselves to create policies and change them, rather than just creating and undoing changes.

A multiparty system would be very beneficial for the U.S. and represent the interests of every American. Yet, it will be extremely difficult to create such a system, and the only way for this to happen is through public outcry. So talk to your representatives, write to them, or email them that you want the U.S. to fund another majority party. For now, you should definitely vote independent and encourage representatives to become independent. Otherwise we’ll just stay trapped in this back and forth of bipartisan politics.

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