ican parties. The standard arrangement for electing national and state legislators in the United States is the “single-member” district system — what this means is that whoever receives a plurality of the vote is elected. Unlike proportional systems, the single-member district arrangement permits only one party to win in any given district. The single-member system thus creates incentives to form two broadly based parties capable of winning legislative district pluralities, while condemning minor and third parties to almost perpetual defeat — not a prescription for longevity unless they can combine forces with a major party. A further institutional nudge toward two-partyism is provided by the electoral college system for choosing presidents. Election as president requires an absolute majority of the 50 states’ 538 total electoral votes. This requirement makes it extremely difficult for a third party to achieve the presidency without combining with a major party. In addition, the individual states’ electoral votes are allocated under a winner-take-all arrangement. All that is required to capture a state’s electoral votes is a plurality of the popular vote within the state. Like the single-member district system, the electoral college works to the disadvantage of third parties, which have little chance of winning any state’s electoral votes, let alone carrying enough states to elect a president. With the Republicans and Democrats in control of the governmental machinery, it is not surprising that they have created other electoral rules that work to the advantage of the major parties. Just getting a new party’s name on the ballot within the states can be an arduous and expensive undertaking. For example, ballot-access laws in Pennsylvania require a new party to obtain 99,000 registrants in order to have its candidates’ names on the ballot. In addition, the Federal Election Campaig...
