According to a study done on October 4, 2024, by the American Psychiatric Association, 20% of people cut off their close friends and family members because of political differences. This is the kind of divide that turns people away from each other, making them stop communicating. In the United States, all we see are 2 sides: Democrats and Republicans. But what about the rest of the people who don’t feel represented by either party?  When looking at the problem of lack of political parties in the US government, and considering the researched solution, a way to reduce political division would be to increase the number of different political parties and create a rank-choice voting system.

It is important to understand how the problem of two political parties began. The truth is: There was always only 2 political parties throughout America’s history. It all started when America finally got to be independent and form their own government. The Federalists, led by Alexander Hamilton, and the Antifederalists, led by Thomas Jefferson, went against each other. Then, there were the Federalists and the Democratic Republicans. Later, there were the Democrats and the Whigs. Eventually, the parties evolved into what we have today, Democrats and Republicans. Of course, there were also independent parties, but they didn’t get any major votes, making them irrelevant; Although, this can change if people put in the effort.

Because of only 2 major political parties, the problem is not only that people cut important relationships in their lives, but it also limits people’s options and discriminates against minority beliefs, forcing people to submit to either political party even though they don’t agree with them on everything. According to the Pew Research Center in 2023, “Nearly three-in-ten (28%) express unfavorable views of both parties, the highest share in three decades of polling. And a comparable share of adults (25%) do not feel well-represented by either party.”  By now, these numbers have definitely increased because of the two major political parties becoming more extreme.

This issue is not only political, but psychological as well. An AP-NORC poll stated, “Overall, adults are more likely to use negative attributes to describe either party. Thirty-nine percent use negative words or phrases to describe the Democratic Party, while 43% do the same about the Republican party.”  Obviously, the psychological root of the issue is that people are viewing politics as two sides, moral and immoral. It is one problem that people can’t solve easily, and it will constantly be the mindset of people throughout the future. However, that doesn’t mean that there is no solution whatsoever.

One of the solutions is the creation of more political parties to give citizens more options on who to vote for. The Pew Research Center in 2023 chose the best description of modern American politics. The data showed that 86% of people thought “Republicans and Democrats are more focused on fighting each other than on solving problems.” The two parties become quite literally polarizing since their focus shifts to primarily wanting to defeat each other. Extremist campaigns and corruption contribute to the problem of the political division.

Another way to limit division regarding the political parties is by creating a rank-choice voting system. The RCV system allows voters to rank the available candidates from 1st to 4th place in order of preference. The highest preference is the 1st candidate, and the lowest is the 4th. If more than half of the voters place the same candidate in first place, then he wins the election. Although there are some states already adopting this system, it is still not enough to solve the problem, and we need all 50 states to use this system. This will result in more flexibility, and minority beliefs will be easily communicated by people.

All in all, the United States has a major problem with its political system. Only having 2 political parties leads to political division because people have limited options on which side to choose. We urgently need more political parties that people will actually look into and enforce the RCV system. Having more flexibility will ensure that people of various minority beliefs will feel freer to choose a candidate, and the hatred towards the members of opposite parties will tone down.