Is America’s Two-Party Political System in Decline?

Despite admonitions from George Washington and James Monroe that political parties would fracture the country into an ungovernable Union, our historically proven resilience demonstrates their fears were unwarranted.

Our nation survived the Civil War, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and, during my adolescence, the upheaval created by the absolute betrayal of public trust by our political leadership in the perpetration of the Vietnam War.

Nearly 60,000 young, mostly poor, American men and women were killed. At the Pasadena Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the triangular-shaped granite and bronze structure honors the Pasadena servicemen who died or went missing in the Vietnam War. It’s located in Memorial Park and was dedicated in 2004. The memorial lists the names of the 31 men, along with their age and branch of service. No women from Pasadena were listed.

After each war, we survived, along with the Democratic and Republican Parties. 

However, younger registered voters today are more likely to be uncommitted to either Democratic or Republican Parties. Forty-three percent of 18- to 25-year-olds are uncommitted, a larger share than any other age group. While non-white voters are more likely to be uncommitted than white voters (34 percent), non-white voters (23 percent) are also younger. Is this a harbinger that future generations are questioning the dominance of the two-party system born in 1824 when internal divisions within the Democratic-Republican Party (yes, they were ONE party) separated into two for good?

We may be headed towards a complete political system overhaul, with millennials re-validating the American political experiment first implemented by the Founding Fathers exactly 200 years ago. It’s a ‘back to the future’ moment, as some, mostly young, want to challenge the status quo.

Historical Voting

It was our first president, George Washington, who sought to create an “enlightened administration devoid of parties.” However, Washington was not a lone voice doubting the wisdom of political parties in defining the young nation. James Monroe, our fifth president, shared his view, stating in 1822, “Surely our government may go on and prosper without the existence of (political) parties. I have considered their existence as the curse of the country.”

Monroe ran and won the presidency as a Democratic-Republican candidate in 1816. Today he would be described as an ‘uber-nationalist’ after developing the famous “Monroe Doctrine” in 1823. A policy that vowed that we would protect and, by so doing, establish control of the New World, ruffling the feathers of Europe, as did former President Trump two centuries later, with his policies toward the European Union and NATO. A “you do you, I do me” American political mentality we continue to debate during this election cycle.

By 1820, the Democratic-Republican Party was the nation’s only surviving political party. However, the single existing party lacked a shared ideological vision and was only united by their mutual opposition to George Washington’s model of centralized government. Then, in 1824, internal divisions separated into the two-party system approach to governance. 

The Republican sector was nationalist both in the economy and politics. The mindset was ‘America first’ or ‘We are going to make America great’-(not “again” because it was the beginning). In contrast, the Democratic sector was less nationalistic and more internationalistic because most of their trade was with Europe. Thus, they favored more international pro-European views.

Sound familiar?

By 1860, the modern two-party system, as we know it, was in place and has been an enduring institution for over two centuries now. However, polling reveals that six in ten adults (63 percent) have “not too much” or “no confidence at all” in the future of the U.S. political system. Can the traditional two-party system hold on to its dominance despite the disillusionment and pessimism felt by the majority of a more and more diverse electorate? Does Trump’s MAGA movement within the Republican Party foreshadow a breakdown of the Republican Party and the two-party system? 

Modern Voting

A Pew Research Center Study found that nearly two-thirds of Americans (63 percent) say they “always or often feel exhausted” when thinking about politics, while 55 percent feel “angry.” Only 10 percent are “hopeful,” and a scant 4 percent are “excited.”

The study found that a majority of participants say “the political process is dominated by special interests, flooded with campaign cash, and mired in partisan warfare.” They view elected officials as “self-serving and ineffective.” And just 16 percent say they trust the federal government “always or most of the time.” When it comes to the opinions of both parties, 28 percent,  nearly three in ten, express unfavorable views, and 25 percent do not feel well represented by either party. This is the highest share in three decades of polling.

Strikingly, there has been a 20 percent drop since 2018, from 46 percent to 26 percent in polls rating the quality of political candidates as “very or somewhat good.” One notable and counterintuitive phenomenon in all this dissatisfaction is the historically high levels of voter turnout in the last three national elections. The 2018 midterm, 2020 presidential, and 2022 midterm were the highest turnout elections in decades. I guess maybe if I vote, things will change. 

The study concluded that majorities back age and term limits and eliminating the Electoral College to build back confidence in our political system.

And the Pasadena-area voter record turnout goes to…

In an April 29, 2024, report, the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk reported that for the March primary election, La Cañada Flintridge registered a higher voter turnout than the rest of the county and nearby cities.

How will Pasadena fare next week? Personally, I believe our republic can accommodate more democratic underpinnings without breaking the Union in the process. And it seems to me that term limits, in particular, would speed along the emergence of a third major political party. 

We may or may not be on the verge of an American Spring, like the recent Arab Spring of 2011, but regardless, shouldn’t we ardently pursue the path to greater freedom through greater political choice in pursuit of a more perfect Union?