“Political Parties ought to be eliminated, because their main concern is winning elections instead of making effective public policy and furnishing fair representation.”
For quote… Many voters vote for political candidates based only on the candidates’ party affiliations. American citizens should choose their elected officials based on what they can contribute during their career in office. Partisanship only creates bickering and takes focus away from important decisions that need to be made. If partisanship was eliminated candidates would spend more time coming up with prospective public policy ideas which in voters in turn would return their focus to. Americans could vote simply as Americans rather than dividing themselves by siding with Democrats and Republicans. It would increase cooperation of elected officials with differing views. Candidates would not rely on attacking opposing candidates as much to win their campaigns. Candidates could show off their best ideas and let the voters decide which candidates would be most helpful to their representative area. It would give the voters more choices of possible representatives. Furthermore, Congress often has trouble deciding issues because it is stalemated by partisanship (Cummings and Wise, 408). Congressmen all too often have such strong ties with their party that they can’t compromise on an issue for the good of the country. How a particular candidate performs while in office often affects the public’s perception of the party that candidate is affiliated with. For example, most Americans would agree that President Bush hasn’t performed up to par, and this may have a lot to do with the House and Senate becoming dominated by Democrats after the midterm elections. This implies that because the Republican can’t do his job the Democrat will be able to do better which may not necessarily be the case. Finally, today’s Democratic and Republican politicians have become so similar and yet so dominant that it is really the independents that are getting shafted by not having a chance to put their different, innovative ideas to use in office.
Against quote… Whether candidates running for political office run on the platform of a political party or whether there are no distinct parties, the main goal of the candidate is going to be winning the election. Arguing against this would prove to be very difficult. There are very few, if any, candidates who “furnish fare representation.” Candidates more often support their party’s stance on an issue than what would be the most fare for everyone. If there were no political parties would this really be any different? If there was not a group nearly as strong as the group winning the election wouldn’t it be easier for the winners to abuse their power? They would have much less opposition in this case. The ideal government that would furnish fare representation is one that can make compromises and work together to solve problems. This ideal government should seek to reform political parties, not eliminate them. The United States needs to reform campaign financing so that winning elections is not all about which candidate has the most money. The campaigns should also be shorter. There is no reason to spend as long as we do campaigning for the next presidency. It takes focus away from other more important things that could be getting done. The US should expand its parties. If there are going to be parties that keep each other in check there should more than just two major ones to choose from. Senators and Congressmen should serve longer terms so they accomplish more while in office and so more people will participate in their elections. Completely eliminating political parties is a horrible idea. The wealthy and famous would have an even better chance at winning elections. Americans differences would be amplified much more than they are by claiming to be a Democrat or Republican. The Electoral College would first have to be reformed as well, otherwise every election that a winner did not win by majority, the decision would go to Congress.
Works Cited:
Wise, David, and Milton C. Cummings Jr. Democracy Under Pressure. 10. Belmont:
Thomas Wadsworth, 2007.
