Three’s a crowd in America’s 2-party system

Today’s gridlock in Congress is not new. America has had a long history of such two-party gridlock almost since its inception.

In a perverse sort of way, it has led to remarkable political stability. It has kept sharply divided ideological conflicts institutionalized and fought with mere words instead of musket fire and bayonets. With the exception of the Civil War, our two-party system and mutual respect for popular elections have contained our ideological battles in political arenas and have kept us living under the world’s oldest constitution.

From the shot heard around the world at Lexington and Concord in 1775, to the sea breeze that wafted away the last tufts of smoke from the Battlefield at Yorktown in 1781, America’s new star joined the Pleiades of nations without any formal political parties. This would quickly change.

The ratification of the Constitution by individual states was approved by the slimmest of margins. At the time, the Constitution was so controversial that it took its proponents every maneuver, every oration and the genius of the pens of Hamilton, Madison and Jay in the Federalist Papers to get it ratified — even then needing a gentle push from the hand of God to get it over the hump.

John Adams that said that the ratification was “decided by the vote of a single state, and that vote was often decided by a single individual.”

Far from being regarded as a miracle in the governance of a free people, it was seen by some state legislatures as a ploy to usurp the rights of individual states. During the American Revolution, it was Patrick Henry who gave us perhaps the most powerful freedom quote of all time: “Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

Virginia Governor Henry said upon hearing news of the constitutional convention, “I smell a rat.” The ratification process pitted those who argued for a stronger federal government on one side with those arguing for a weak federal government on the other. The seeds for our modern two-party system were sewn.

When President George Washington took office in 1789, he personally eschewed the idea of political parties and appointed members to his cabinet that represented both ideologies. This led to an ideological cold war between members of his cabinet. In fact, it got so heated between Federalist Alexander Hamilton and anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson that Jefferson ended up resigning from Washington’s cabinet. By the time of the Adam’s administration, the American two-party system had matured into the gridlocked system we have today.

Though political party names and groups of values represented by each group have evolved over time, we are still very much dominated by a two-party system. Very few third parties have gained much traction in this country because they tend to split the vote of the most ideologically similar party and hand the election to the other.

Often one party will ideologically absorb a large portion of the other. If enough of a red party or blue party is combined into a bureaucratic purple party, the remaining traditional elements tend to feel ideologically orphaned or even persecuted. Such is the case with the Tea Party within the GOP. This is also the case with the peace element of the Democratic Party that is aghast of the current administration’s stance on continual warfare, domestic spying and federal militarization.

Here in Alaska, a significant portion of our career GOP politicians have been philosophically absorbed by the opposite party. Republicans typically campaign like fiscal conservatives, but govern like socialist Democrats. Here, our Republican legislators are unequaled at gaming the welfare state by growing the size and scope of state government and in using the capital budget to buy votes in their home districts.

In Washington, D.C., our two-party differences are not as dissimilar as they might appear. The fact the federal government is $17 trillion in debt, is the world’s largest employer and has half the population financially dependent on it is clearly indicative that the career Republicans we send to Washington are as bureaucratized as the ones we send to Juneau. This must change.

As a conservative member of the GOP, what am I and likeminded Republicans to do? Do we join up with or form another more conservative third party? Or do we do something similar to what Jesus did when he tossed the moneychangers out of the temple? If history is any guide, third parties don’t perform well in a system where three is a crowd. Instead, each party must keep true to its colors.

Daniel Hamm lives in Palmer and is an international Boeing 747 freight pilot.