Why a two Party Government is Detrimental to Apolytonia.

[Libertarian2004]

Why a two Party Government is Detrimental to Apolytonia.

First off I would like to say that this is not an article about bashing the two current standing parties or party politics in general. It is an article based on what a two party system could do to our great nation.
Two party systems lead to deadlocks, stifles innovative thought, citizens following blindly the cause of their party because they do not like the other party ideals or agree with an idea(s) of their selected party, a us vs. them mentality, and ultimately corruption in the courts.
Corruption in the courts is quite possible in a two party system where members of parties are allowed to be seated as a justice. Political favors can be hidden behind the words of a final verdict and justice nominations, the law of the land can be interpreted with a hint of political flavor. In any system with political parties, political judges are bad. In a two party system where the parties are at each others necks, the prospect of corruption grows even worse
However party politics are not inherently evil. They create a culture of thought and are a great way for ideas to be broadcasted. The power of the masses get things done. I am not calling to the end of political parties as many people have in other democracy games.
If a government were to have many political parties with a range of ideas and philosophies, we would all benefit. Debates ring louder with more intuitive and diverse ideas. Polls have more than the political party #1 option and the political party #2 option. Citizens have more choices to best pursue their own personal and political interests.
The current two party system of the United Front Coalition (UFC) and the Democratic Industrialists of Apolytonia (DIA) so far have not begun the ultimate spiral down of the 2 party system. I believe that active citizenship and a decent number of independents running for office have kept us from this downward spiral. I also believe that we have fairly honest people at the head of these parties now and at the head of our government. Right now they are working together to forge our nation in these early ages. However this is not guaranteed forever. We have yet to face our greatest challenges as a nation. Challenges that are sure to make or break this nation.
This is a call to all independents and dissatisfied members of the 2 party system. Create a political party, run for office, post in forums, vote in polls, and let your unique ideas be heard. Together we will prevent a two party system from stagnating our country.

[Robber Baron]

Re: Why a two Party Government is Detrimental to Apolytonia.

Originally posted by Libertarian2004
Two party systems lead to deadlocks, stifles innovative thought, citizens following blindly the cause of their party because they do not like the other party ideals or agree with an idea(s) of their selected party, a us vs. them mentality, and ultimately corruption in the courts.

But NONE of these things have happened or are happening in our game. This complaint might describe the impact of two-party systems in RL. It simply doesn't apply here. Apolytonians have voted flexibly, each of the two "parties" have allowed wide internal ranges of ideas and philosophies, and our government shows absolutely no sign of gridlock. In fact, we have demonstrated the opposite.

[civman2000]

Together we will prevent a two party system from stagnating our country

And create the chaos of having 10 tiny disorganized parties, which will eventually merge back into 2 or 3 anyways .

WHat I think we need is some non-partisan yet political organizations. ALl organizations so far are for debate but do not promote any one side of any debates.

[Harovan]

The best action to be done with these parties is, disband them. They do absolutely nothing useful. With good reason parties are banned in Phoenatica, so let's learn from them.

[civman2000]

*Gets out copy of Bill of Rights which will soon be passed*

Ahem. "Clause 5: THe right to associate into any form of organization shall not be denied."

By the way, clause 5 is passing with 82%

[Edrix]

They've banned parties in the CFC Demo Game. Few people have complained or tried to change it, and those who have are newbies. Their government is doing fine. Perhaps we can adopt some of their methods...
Of course, they are much more advanced than us. They have tanks and we have archers. Can't argue with evidence.

[Epistax]

Well he is right. Look at examples. The US political system is very much in a downward spiral battle betweens Dems and Reps. However in various european nations there are many more equally popular parties. And just because there are more than two, it doesn't mean they are any more disorganized-- maybe more so. The way it is in the US now is that the parties are organized as against eachother. If one party disappeared, the other one would fall over.


True, we do not have this problem in our game right now, but the second someone votes for someone because of their party, we have a problem.

[Jon Shafer]

The only way to get rid of parties would be to ban them from the start. That didn't happen, and now they're too intertwined, and many people don't want to give them up for whatever reason they might have.

[mtgillespie]

I don't think we should ban parties. However, i don't think people can comment on whether they are divisive or not until we have a stronger position. At the moment, there is no problem because our options are war or die. When our options are war or build, we'll find out the true nature of our parties, and how well they can work together.

[Harovan]

Originally posted by civman2000
*Gets out copy of Bill of Rights which will soon be passed*

Ahem. "Clause 5: THe right to associate into any form of organization shall not be denied."

By the way, clause 5 is passing with 82%

I do not acknowledge your so-called bill of rights. It is pointless, and most posters see it so. The prove is, that at this point only 39 of far over 200 people have voted (look at the elections, where voted more than 100 people). Geez, I attracted more voters with the question, if we should open embassies. Hence, the vast majority is not interested in your bill of rights, it's pretty unpopular. If you are unable to attract more voters with your stuff, I don't recommend you to call it "official", even if it got 100% approval.

If you posted another "official amendment" and would be the only voter, that would make a 100% approval.

But would it be legal? I say no.

[Apocalypse]

I don't believe political parties will do too much harm. Enough Independents run to at least force the party candidates to make independent decisions.

[Papa Chubby]

I have to agree with Sir Ralph in that there must be some minimum of voters before a poll is considered valid. There must be some minimum turnout value of voters that vote, whether it is 50% or 66%, that must be debated.

Whether having two political parties is bad or not, i dont know. Besides the UFC is a coalition of two parties, that have different views on warfare and its value in our society. Looking back at the postings that have been, I don´t think that we have in any way been narrow-minded.

[Sheik]

WHat I think we need is some non-partisan yet political organizations. ALl organizations so far are for debate but do not promote any one side of any debates.

[jdjdjd]

Originally posted by Papa Chubby
I have to agree with Sir Ralph in that there must be some minimum of voters before a poll is considered valid. There must be some minimum turnout value of voters that vote, whether it is 50% or 66%, that must be debated.

Whether having two political parties is bad or not, i dont know. Besides the UFC is a coalition of two parties, that have different views on warfare and its value in our society. Looking back at the postings that have been, I don´t think that we have in any way been narrow-minded.

This is a good idea, but how do we determine the number? And if we do this, it should probably be added to the code of laws, since its a significant difference between this and the current way.

As for parties, I am not in one and probably never will. Do they have a purpose, sure to some extent. Is this really a two party system, probably not given the vast amount of independents we have? Should we disband them, its not worth the effort, nor is it proper to tell members of a democracy that they can not organize, meet, plan, etc., so long as they do not violate the code of laws.

[Libertarian2004]

I am not saying that right now we are experiancing this stagnation of the 2 party system. What I am saying is that it is enitrely possible that it could happen in the future.

As people above have stated we have had little to disagree on as far as the civ3 game goes, the only debate has been on how our goverment is structured. We will have real decisions to make soon. then we will see if this tranquil productive goverment continues.

Basically my article calls to independents to form more political parties if we are going to be a party based system.

Also no one has touched on my idea that justices should not be POLITICALLY aligned, if they are, it should be an elected position.