Introduction to the
New LD Topic:
Democracy and
the Two Party System
New L.D. Resolution
 RESOLVED: The two-party system undermines
democracy in U.S. presidential elections.
 Crucial elements:
 What is democracy?
 What is the two-party system?
 Restricted to U.S. presidential elections
Definitions - Democracy

Origin of the Term: It is derived from the Greek δημοκρατία "dimokratia"
or "popular government" which is a fusion of two seperate words, δήμος
(dēmos), "people" and κράτος (kratos), "rule, strength." In the middle of
the 5th century BC to denote the political system in Athens and other
Greek city-states.

Term has been abused and twisted. Even totalitarian regimes claim the
title. Example: Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea is a brutal
regime run by a dictator and the communist party

Must agree to the “rules of the game” ?
Definitions – Democracy

Focus on Actors
 Who has political power? The people are sovereign.
 Restrictions? Only males, only whites, only adults, only property
owners, etc.
 Scope: Citizens and Territory
 One Person = One Vote.
 Elected representatives
Definitions – Democracy
 No universally accepted definition of the term.
 Crucial for you to find a definition that is both strategic
and reasonable to your judges
 Actors, or Process, or Results?
Definitions – Democracy
 Focus on Process or Procedure
 How are government officials selected? Voting in free & fair
elections
 No Fraud, No Intimidation, Etc.
 Gerrymandering - a form of redistricting in which district
boundaries are manipulated for electoral advantage.
Gerrymandering may be used to help or hinder particular
constituents, such as members of a political, racial, linguistic,
religious or class group.
 Free Speech, Freedom of the Press, and Open Political
Campaigning
Definitions – Democracy

Focus on Results

Serving the interests of the people with less emphasis on process and
procedures

“Substantive Democracy” is a form of democracy according to which the
outcome of the decisions is real democracy. In other words, substantive
democracy is a form of democracy that functions in the interest of the
governed. It is important to note that even in societies where voting is
unrestricted to the entire adult population, this characteristic does not
necessarily qualify it as a substantive democracy. Opposite: formal
process of democracy but one that lacks actually democracy in practice,
such as the Soviet Union.
Types of Democracy,
Problems, and Remedies

Simple Majority Rule
 Potential Problem: tyranny of the majority
 Remedy: Constitutional Rights
 Remedy: Competing Branches
 Remedy: Federal System

Direct Democracy
 Potential Problem: Logistics
 Potential Problem: Voter Knowledge and Deliberation
 Remedy: Representatives selected by regular elections
Contemporary Democracy
in the United States

Constitutional Democracy

Representative Democracy

Liberal Democracy

Separation of Powers & Overlapping Duties

Federal System

Universal Suffrage for All Adults

“Winner Take All”
Electoral College

Complex System created in our original constitution

Electoral College, Not Direct Popular Vote, determines the President and
Vice-President

Each State is allocated electoral votes based on its congressional
delegation. State’s Electoral Votes = # in House plus # in Senate

Most states have a “winner take all” system for their electoral votes

Currently need 270 electoral votes to win
History of Two Party
System
 Splits Began Early
 Constitutional Ratification
 Adams v. Jefferson
 Whig Party disintegrated in 1856 over the
issue of slavery, soon replaced by Republican
Party in the north
Notable Third Party
Candidates
1844: James Birney of the anti-slavery Liberal Party in 1844 wins 2.3% of popular
vote, possibly tipping the election to pro-slavery Democrat James Polk
1892: James Weaver of the Populist Party wins 8.6% of the popular vote and 22
electoral college votes
1912: Theodore Roosevelt, former Vice President and President as a Republican,
loses the battle for the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft.
Roosevelt runs as member of a Populist or “Bull Moose” Party and split the
Republican party. He wins 27% of the popular vote, carried six states, and
earned 88 electoral votes. He finished behind Democrat Woodrow Wilson but
ahead of Taft. Best showing ever by a third party candidate
Notable Third Party
Candidates
1920: Socialist Party candidate Eugene Debs wins 3.4% of the popular vote
despite being imprisoned for politically-inspired espionage charges
1948: Strom Thurmond of South Carolina splits from the Democratic Party over
issue of racial segregation and forms the “Dixiecrat” Party. He earns over a
million votes and 39 electoral votes in Southern States.
1968: Former Democratic Governor of Alabama George Wallace ran on the
American Independent Party line. Wallace received 9,901,118 votes for 13.5%
of the popular vote, receiving 45 electoral votes in the South and many votes
in the North.
Notable Third Party
Candidates

1992: Billionaire Ross Perot, an independent, won 18.9% of the popular vote (but
no electoral votes). This was the second-best popular vote showing ever for a
third-party candidate, trailing only Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. Perot finished
second in three states: in Alaska and Utah ahead of election winner Bill Clinton,
and in Maine ahead of incumbent President George H. W. Bush.

1996: Ross Perot wins the nomination of the new “Reform” Party. He earns 8% of
the popular vote but no electoral votes.

2000: Ralph Nader, nominee of the Green Party, wins 2.7 of the popular vote and
no electoral votes. The vote count in Florida between Bush and Gore is razor thin –
only about 500 votes of out nearly 6 million votes cast there. Nader won
thousands of votes in Florida and possibly tipped the election there to Bush.
Eventually Bush lost the national popular vote but won 271 electoral votes,
including those electoral votes from the state of Florida.
History of the Two Party
System
 Democrats and Republicans since 1864
 Only Three other parties have party registrations above 100,000:
the Green Party, the Liberian Party, and the Constitution Party
 Roughly 20 other parties are active. They exist across the political
spectrum, from left to right to special issue
Barriers to Third Party
Success
 Winner Take All, not proportional representation
 Ballot Access Laws
 Media Coverage
 Debate Commission
Return to the Resolution
 RESOLVED: The two-party system undermines democracy in
U.S. presidential elections.
 Must focus on the term “democracy”
 Debate commission is a prime example. It is a private body that
crafts its own rules. It is run by a group of both Republicans and
Democrats, but not other parties. It creates rules that allow only
major candidates into the debate. And then the media
broadcasts those debates for free.
 However, this is an INDIRECT effect.
Negative
 Two Party System is not to blame




Electoral College
Majority = Victory, not proportional
Media Coverage
Debate Commission
Negative
 Alternative Definitions of Democracy
 Process / Procedural
 Substantive