Hello John,   
      
   >JM>There are more than two political parties in the US.   
      
   >LL>None that are competitive or amount to a hill of beans.   
      
   JM>Oh I agree with that.   
      
   And why is it that only two parties dominate U.S. politics?   
      
   JM>That doesn't change the fact the U.S. has several parties   
      
   Only two parties are competitive - the Democratic Party   
   and the Republican Party.  And those two political parties   
   want to keep it that way.  Forever.  IOW, those two political   
   parties have a monopoly on power, and for obvious reasons   
   want to maintain that power for themselves.   
      
   JM>and is a multi party system.   
      
   "The effective number of parties in a multi-party system   
   is normally larger than two but lower than ten."   
   [source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/multi-party_system]   
      
   "Unlike a single-party system (or a two-party democracy),   
   it [multi-party system] encourages the general constituency   
   to form multiple distinct, officially recognized groups,   
   generally called political parties."   
   [source: ibid]   
      
   If we had a multi-party system then no political party would   
   be able to have a majority or be able to forge a compromise with   
   the opposing party.   
      
   "A multi-party system prevents the leadership of a single   
   party from controlling a single legislative chamber without   
   challence."   
   [source: ibid]   
      
   A two-party state does not mean that other parties exist.  Even   
   in a one-party state other parties exist.  The former Soviet Union   
   was a case in point, the Soviet system having all the trappings of   
   democracy - but none of the benefits.  Cuba is another case in point,   
   their system allowing for other parties, but no other party other   
   than the Communist Party having the power or the means to gain   
   political power.  The same is true in other anti-democratic   
   countries, such as Syria (Baathist).  And then there is the strange   
   case of Libya, which had a no party state for 42 years.  Seems   
   the people wanted to have a party and threw out the guest of honor.   
      
   The U.S. Constitution makes no mention of political parties.  In fact,   
   all of the candidates for president in the first electoral college had   
   no political affiliation (there was no popular vote electing delegates   
   to the electoral college until 1824).   
      
   Today we have two political parties vying for power, with no other   
   political party having any weight whatsoever.  That is the way it has   
   been for decades, and is likely to continue in the foreseable future.   
      
   Just because several political parties exist does not mean that we   
   have a multi-party system/state.  Much as you might like to differ,   
   the reality is that the US has a two-party sytem, and is unlikely   
   to move to a multi-party system anytime soon.   
      
   --Lee   
      
      
    * SLMR 2.1a * I need to fart....but I don't know which way to lean.   
      
   --- Maximus 3.01   
    * Origin: Xaragmata / Adelaide SA telnet://xaragmata.mooo.com (3:800/432)