Will the Democratic Socialist wing of the Democratic Party continue to grow? 30 Must it cultivate that affiliation in order to be effective in American politics, or has the time come for an effective 3d Party or Independent Party challenge?
For immediate change it’s gonna have to be the second option. The main problem with this is that it will divide a party in two which will split the vote and effectively hand the reins to the Republican party. This has been done in the past to this effect. The first option is most likely going to be the more difficult, but less risky option because while we won’t be getting as many Progressives like Sanders, we will not be getting more policy dismantling conservatives like Trump. However with this method, the Democrat party has little incentive to appeal to the more liberal base. Thus, we will get more Joe Biden’s.
I think our best chance for success would be to implement ranked voting. This way voters can vote for more “risky” options and not feel like they are throwing their vote away. For example, you can go to the polls and your three choices are between Sanders, Warren, and Biden. Let’s say Sanders gets the least amount of votes then your first pick would be discarded and now your vote would be for Warren. Assuming that they are the only two candidates left, whoever had the most votes at that point would win. Maine has adapted this new voting policy and I find it ridiculous that this is not implemented in more states.
Both methods have their pluses and minuses but I think the more safe option is the first option because of that party vote split which would weaken that side. Unless we can implement the ranked voting system, then a third party would be most welcome and probably needed.
The issue of third parties is even more nuanced. Not only would ranked choice voting (aka "instant runoff voting") have to be incorporated, but states would have to changes how they allocate electoral votes, and the Federal Electoral Commission would have to be reconstructed from the ground up.
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting about IRV is that it has already seen incorporation in municipal elections in more progressive states like MN and MA to great success. What is interesting is that Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution allocates the power to organize and run elections to the states. Thus, a state could implement IRV easily--it's all the other moving pieces that are problematic.
However, I am a fan of IRV and I think it would be a step in the right direction. However, I feel as though it is important to recognize that IRV will not singlehandedly resolve the issue. if you want some good news, here is a link to a great article (despite being a bit dated) about IRV in MA: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/06/maine-lepage-ranked-choice-voting/562871/
Do you think ranked-choice would strengthen the two-party system by encouraging those who'd otherwise opt for 3d party status (like the Greens) to run as major party candidates?
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