this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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Americans will NEVER accept more than two parties.
Sadly it’s what you need so that the whole country won’t flip-flop every 4 years. One 10-15 congressman party who the major parties need to make concessions to
With ranked choice voting, they would.
I think no more than two parties would dominate, even in a ranked choice system. But they would evolve more representatively: party platforms are shaped by issue polling, with the ballot box being both the ultimate poll but also obscure on what exactly the detailed driving issues are.
Ranked choice voting would give single-issue parties a real seat at the ballot box, and enable the two big parties to more accurately adjust their platforms to target voters who first-choiced a little party and second-choiced one of the big ones.
Right now they don't have more than two parties not because they don't want to but basically because they can't.
Once that would be possible watch everyone vote for who they actually want to vote for. Within no time you'd be seeing dozens of parties pop up
Australia has had ranked choice voting for decades. Wikipedia describes their system as a "mild" two-party system. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Australia
I don't see any reason the US would have a different outcome. But I believe transitioning from our current "hard" two-party system to a "mild" one would be a huge positive.
Which is why the two major parties will never support it.
It got through in Maine and Alaska. I am very disappointed on the loss in Nevada, but hopeful the current two-state foothold gets people more comfortable with the idea enough to support it, or at least not spend energy fighting it, in their state.