Some thoughts on the uniqueness of the US electoral system
I think that the main reason the two-party system is so strong is because of the Electoral College, which is essentially first-past-the-post squared, so the likelyhood of a two-party system is that much greater, and unlike the House of Commons, the Electoral College cannot bring down a president in a vote of no confidence, so there's no use for smaller parties.
The second feature of the US system is the straight-party ticket. Because there are dozens of choices to be made on Election Day (president on down to dog catcher, you might say) many people choose the party vote to simplify matters, only voting for the few candidates outside the voter's party when needed.
Thus, even in probably the most diverse political culture in the world, you get stuck with the good ol' two-party system (or as I call it the Janus Party .) I think that this multipartisan ATL is only possible using PR; without it, it would either degenerate into our system or collapse in civil war.
I think that the main reason the two-party system is so strong is because of the Electoral College, which is essentially first-past-the-post squared, so the likelyhood of a two-party system is that much greater, and unlike the House of Commons, the Electoral College cannot bring down a president in a vote of no confidence, so there's no use for smaller parties.
The second feature of the US system is the straight-party ticket. Because there are dozens of choices to be made on Election Day (president on down to dog catcher, you might say) many people choose the party vote to simplify matters, only voting for the few candidates outside the voter's party when needed.
Thus, even in probably the most diverse political culture in the world, you get stuck with the good ol' two-party system (or as I call it the Janus Party .) I think that this multipartisan ATL is only possible using PR; without it, it would either degenerate into our system or collapse in civil war.