Despite the shared mythology that Jesus wrote an immutable Constitution, a lot of our actual Constition is, like the Brit Consitution, … an unwritten assumption that things will go as they have gone before.
A huge part of what is NOT written is laws regulating the parties. The reason is simple .. the founders imagined we would have a one party system .. until Thomas Jefferson realized that path led to tyranny and ran against the Federalist ticket. That decision outraged the ultimate founder, George Washington but Jefferson got elected and we have had two parties ever since.
Still, under the shadow of the Federalist pantheon, the Holy Constitution includes nothing about parties. All the stuff about how Congress works under the parties and a lot of the laws governing state elections by party are written into laws and parliamentary rules written by the parties.
So, to get to something that would allow more than two parties, the US would need to start with a reform act that would outlaw all government support for the election of candidates from any one party. That would mean, as we now have in WA state, outlawing party labels on ballots and outlawing selection of party nominees in state-run elections.
The majority of laws on elections is done by the individual states. The only national election we have is for President. and that election is actually 50 separate state elections.
For all the progressive values of Washington state we still have a two party system in Washington. It maybe that stripping party affiliation at the local level elections makes this outcome even more inevitable. Yes, the progressives were trying to stamp out evils of corruption from Washington. They may have succeeded, but the cure may well mean only a one party or two party system can exist in Washington.
For a third party to exist that means having seats in the state legislature. That is a big incentive for anyone running for the state legislature or governor to have a big or little R or D with their name. Since the primary will bring it all down to two candidates rather than an election with one representative of each party in each district. There is a green party here, a communist party here, a socialist party here, but for the most part these parties have no access to the levers of power and are insignificant players in Washington state. In part because of the influences of the Progressive movement. Can’t have a corrupt party of Bob running Martha, Washington, unless they have a Republican or Democratic stamp.
If you want third parties the solution is at the individual state level. As it is independents are a third to half of all voters in Washington state. Still it could be we are heading toward a one party system here in Washington state, or two parties more based on urban and rural values with the urban ultimately dominating. A lot of incentive to keep it that way in both parties, who at least cooperate in this area with a nod and a wink, or in their best interest.
We here in Oslo sit around the pub and read your posts out loud. They are really quite entertaining but not in the way you intended.
Du er en trist voksen tomte. Har hornene dine stukket i touchasene dine?
For a more serious discussion of this topic, look up Lee Drutman.