If America's two party system was abolished and a multi-party system was formed...

[nickshepDEM]

Which party would you support?

Assume your party's candidates had legitimate odds of winning elections too...

Labour Party - Think... UK style Labour Party transplanted in the USA.

Conservative Party - Think... UK style Conservative Party transplanted in the USA.

Reform Party - The party traditionally reflects center-conservative fiscal policies and anti-GATT/NAFTA views -- while avoiding taking any official positions on social issues (although much of this group seemed to hold generally libertarian social views).

Peace and Freedom Party - Founded in the 1960s as a left-wing party opposed to the Vietnam War, the small party has largely been dominated by battling factions of Marxist-Leninists (aligned with the Workers World Party), Trotskyists and socialist democrats.

Natural Law Party - "Bringing the light of science into politics" and using colorful imagery -- advocated holistic approaches, Transcendental Meditation (TM), "yogic flying," and other peaceful "New Age" and "scientific" remedies for much of our national and international problems.

Socialist Party USA - Founded by labor union leader, ex-Democratic elected official and pacifist Eugene V. Debs, the SPUSA are true democratic socialists -- advocating left-wing electoral change versus militant revolutionary change.

Libertarian Party - The Libertarians are neither left nor right: they believe in total individual liberty (pro-drug legalization, pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-home schooling, anti-gun control, etc.) and total economic freedom (anti-welfare, anti-government regulation of business, anti-minimum wage, anti-income tax, pro-free trade, etc.)

Green Party - The Green Party -- the informal US-affiliate of the leftist, environmentalist European Greens movement. We propose a vision of our common good that is advanced through an independent politics free from the control of corporations and big money, and through a democratic structure and process that empowers and reaches across lines of division to bring together our combined strengths as a people.

[nam78_two]

1. Green.nt

[bananas]

2. P&F or Green

yogic flying would be cool, but I have my reservations...

[nam78_two]

22. lol.nt

[nickshepDEM]

25. I thought that was pretty funny too.

WTF is 'yogic flying' anyway?

[nam78_two]

26. I don't know but I think I would support it if a party would actually provide it ;)

Gives a whole new definition to "getting high" no ;)? Maybe thats codespeak for legalizing the good plant :P.

[bananas]

48. The Natural Law Party encourages yogic flying

they were listed in the OP, which is why I mentioned it.
It's an advanced practice of TM where they hop around while sitting cross-legged.
If they can get 8,000 people to do it at the same, there will be world peace (or maybe just whirled peas).

"During the 1990s, various Natural Law Parties encouraged the use of yogic flying as part of their party platform."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogic_flying

[bananas]

49. levitating by meditating

see post #48.

[ret5hd]

3. The anarcho-syndicalists...

Although i hear the Sarte Pary is quite a blast too.

[nickshepDEM]

5. What are their basic platforms?

[Freedom_from_Chains]

4. I would leave the country.

It's bad enough with just a two party system, one party would be a disaster. The only way the American people are ever going to be able to have a choice in their government is to have a multi party system. But since our history shows that has never worked out real well I'm not going to hold my breath.

[nickshepDEM]

6. I meant... If we had a multi-party system.

A system where all parties were treated equally and had legitimate chances of winning.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

Oh, that's different, I would have to think about that for awhile.

On Edit: Off the top of my head I would have to go with the natural law party. Based on your description.

[lvx35]

7. CPUSA

all the way baby...:)

[pinto]

8. Democratic Party

[nickshepDEM]

11. Doesnt exist in this scenario. Closest party would probably be Labour.

[scarletwoman]

9. Where are all the socialist parties?

Europe has plenty of socialist parties of one sort or another, like the ruling party in Spain, for example.

And there are currently two different "Green Parties" in the U.S. -- neither of which seems worth a shit these days.

Personally, I'd vote for whichever party hewed most closely to the "Bolivarian Revolution" model as it currently exists in Venezuela.

sw

[Union Thug]

12. Democratic Socialists would receive my vote. n/t

[nickshepDEM]

13. Peace and Freedom seems like the best match.

[scarletwoman]

19. No, it's not. Not if it's full of battling Marxists and Trotskyites.

And I fail to see the political utility of "yogic flying".

I'll stick with my preference for a Bolivarian Party.

[nickshepDEM]

15. Updated... See - Socialist Party USA

[scarletwoman]

21. Okay. Now that you've edited your OP. I'd go with SPUSA. (nt)

[Union Thug]

10. Greens or The Labor Party...

The Labor Party... not the UK party, this one: www.thelaborparty.org. That they reference Eugene Debs is a big plus for me.


"About the Labor Party

The Labor Party is a new political party of, by and for working people. It was founded in June 1996 at a convention of 1,400 delegates from hundreds of local and international unions as well as individual activists. We believe that on issues most important to working people – trade, health care, and the rights to organize, bargain and strike – both the Democrats and Republicans have failed working people.

The Labor Party is national in scope and includes state parties, chapters and local organizing committees which organize members and promote the activities and policies of the Labor Party in its jurisdiction, and elect delegates to Labor Party conventions. The convention is the supreme governing body of the Labor Party and has final authority in all matters of national policy, program and constitution.

Between conventions, the National Council is the governing body with full authority to issue policy statements in the name of the Labor Party. The National Council is made up of representatives of the major affiliating unions and worker-supportive organizations, Labor Party chapter representatives and individuals who represent constituencies not otherwise adequately represented. The National Organizer directs the Labor Party's activities on a day-to-day basis."

[shance]

14. Parties promote unecessary division - why not just vote for individuals?

Its the group/label/divisive separation that keeps a society divided and isolated in factions.

Its not a healthy thing for societies when people are conditioned to believe they are better or worse and/or in some way separated from other individuals. We are all in this life together.

And of course, death is the greatest equalizer of all.

None of us escape it.

[Union Thug]

23. Aside from biology, I disagree...

In my opinion, it's not political parties that divide, it's economics. Political parties are a derivative of economic interests. So long as there are haves and have nots, there will be division. In this sense, capitalism, by its very nature, will create societies whose citizens share only one thing in common: their opposition to one another.

Should someone have the audacity to tell me that Bill Gates and I have a lot in common, I would vomit. We do not share the same interests. In fact, our interests are intrinsically in oppostion. We have NOTHING in common except our eventual meeting with the reaper.

[sweetheart]

16. Liberal Democrats

You left out the libdems.. what are they? They are the 'conservative' left, the
social libertarians and the economic conservatives together in the fastest growing
party in the UK.

... you left them out, as such a party might be semi-inconceivable stateside, and
by leaving them out, expose the conventional knowledge oversights that presumes
a left/right party could not exist.

[nickshepDEM]

18. See - Reform Party

Fiscally Conservative, Socially Libertarian, though they tend to avoid social issues.

Libertarian Party matches that definition too.

[LeftishBrit]

45. Actually, I think you're being a bit hard on them

All British parties are now more economically conservative than I'd like; but I'd say that the LibDems are currently to the left of both the Tories and most of New Labour in this respect.

Probably they are the closest thing to the liberal wing of the Democrats in America; though that isn't how they got their name.

[nickshepDEM]

17. I'd probably go with Labour and possibly vote for Reform on occasion.

[Karenca]

20. Somewhere between Socialist Party USA and Green Party. nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. Democratic Socialist

with a Greenish tinge.

Not the Libertarians--Affluent brats

Not a UK-style Labour Party--Tony Blair is a slow-motion Republican and is trashing public services in the UK

Not the Reform Party--Their only consistent platform is "We're not the other guys.'

[LeftishBrit]

38. Tony Blair is a slow-motion Republican and is trashing public services in the UK

You bet! Though he combines almost-Thatcherite negative attitudes to public services with the sort of bureaucratic managerialism that flourished in the old Soviet Union. The worst of all worlds, in many ways.

[Vexatious Ape]

27. Green Party--with a polite wink to the Labour party--

and a out reached hand to the Socialist party.

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

28. Green Party

[LoZoccolo]

29. Labour = same thing as Democratic Party (my vote)

Conservative = old-style Republicans I still wouldn't vote for
Reform = party for people who want to pretend they are smarter than both major parties; dilettante rebel stance
Peace and Freedom = commies give me a headache (and they probably have them too from arguing about every fucking thing)
Natural Law = cult
Socialist = more naive than obnoxious
Libertarian = Republicans with the Playboy Channel (not my description, by the way)
Green = all skanky from whoring to Republicans

[Bucky]

42. I would only join the Labour Party if they started spelling their name OUR way.

Not to be too chauvinistic, of course.

[joeprogressive]

30. The major problem with a multi party system is the splitting of votes.

The only way I think it could work is if the primary process was two tiered whereby a candidate was selected for each sub-party (ie democratic, republican, green, libertarian, etc). Then one party was then selected from two of the major two parties which would be the Liberal and Conservative parties. Official sub-parties would be registered as one or the other. Therefore every cycle we would always have a Liberal running against a conservative. If no person files from one of these major parties, a second person could be selected whereby a green and dem could run against each other (Liberal vs Liberal).

Not a perfect system but the only way I can see a multi party system working.

[Vidar]

31. Socialist or Green.

[robcon]

32. How does one go about "abolishing" the 2 party system?

If there were more that 2 viable parties, I'd still be a Democrat.

[nickshepDEM]

33. We're pretending here... gosh

[nickshepDEM]

34. kick

[roody]

35. Green. eom

[LeftishBrit]

36. When you say "Labour Party", do you mean the traditional Labour Party, which would be similar to the

Socialist Party USA; or the current one, which is none-too-different from the current Conservative Party!?

I would probably vote for the Socialist/ traditional Labour party, or possibly Green.

[OzarkDem]

37. Women's Party

Sort of like the Democratic (your term-Labor Party) only run by women. It would focus on public policy solutions from a woman's point of view.

Peace
Healthy economy that works for everyone
Quality Education for all
Quality Health Care for all
Clean Environment
Progressive Energy Policies
Long term planning for all important aspects of government vs short term planning
Balanced budgets

You get the picture

[citizen snips]

39. Socialist Party

n/t

[Leftist78]

40. SPUSA!!!

They more closely represent my views than 95% of Democrats do anyway. I'm a Democrat because of lack of options.

[Bucky]

41. I'd stay with the Democrats.

Sorry, none of those quite fit me to a T like the Dems do. Personally, I dislike multiparty systems. I prefer a system where the largest number of people have to sit down together, hammer out their differences, cut deals and compromises, and then learn to live with each other. It's messy, imperfect, and the best possible expression of the human condition.

[liberalpragmatist]

43. A multiparty system wouldn't occur without Proportional Representation

And a presidential system would likely encourage at least a 2-bloc system.

Also, keep in mind that in most countries, even in a multiparty system, there are 2 major parties that tend to compete for votes.

My guess is that in a multiparty system, there would be a breakdown something like this:

1. "Conservative Party" (right-wing on economics, center-right on social issues)
2. "Virtue Party" (smaller, very right-wing on social issues)
3. "Progressive Party" (major left-wing party; generally like the Democrats, but a little bit closer to the center on social issues and more populist on economics)
4. "SDGP" - "Social-Democratic & Green Party" (Coalition partner to the Progressive Party; more left-wing on social issues; perhaps a merger of the left-wing of the Democratic Party with the Green Party)
5. "America First" - Right-wing Buchananites
6. "Liberal Party" - A classically-liberal (libertarian-light party) - think old-school Northeastern Republics; centrist, but generally center-right on economic issues and libertarian on social issues, along with advocacy for a balanced budget.

I'd probably vote Progressive of SDGP, occassionally Liberal.

[BoneDaddy]

44. Probably

Green.

[election_2004]

46. I'd take it candidate-by-candidate

Greens and Libertarians can become corrupt too (although not many have in our current system, because of the Democratic/Republican duopoly).

[Hippo_Tron]

47. None of the above, UK Liberal Democratic party

The Labour Party used to be too far left for my tastes and now they are too far right in some areas. The Libs fit my ideology better.