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Death of the Duopoly (WSJ editorial)

Posted: Sun Jun 19, 2011 7:28 am
by JEQuidam
Death of the Duopoly
By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch
Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2011

EXCERPT...

Nothing in American life today seems as archaic, ubiquitous and immovable as the Republican and Democratic parties.

The two 19th-century political groupings divide up the spoils of a combined $6.4 trillion that is extracted each year from taxpayers at the federal, state, county and municipal levels. Though rhetorically and theoretically at odds with one another, the two parties have managed to create a mostly unbroken set of policies and governance structures that benefit well-connected groups at the expense of the individual.

Americans have watched, with a growing sense of alarm and alienation, as first a Republican administration and then its Democratic successor have flouted public opinion by bailing out banks, nationalizing the auto industry, expanding war in Central Asia, throwing yet more good money after bad to keep housing prices artificially high, and prosecuting a drug war that no one outside the federal government pretends is comprehensible, let alone winnable. It is easy to look upon this well-worn rut of political affairs and despair.

Read full article.

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Though the title evinces too much optimism, it's great to see an article calling attention to the problems of political duopoly, especially in respected media such as the Wall Street Journal. I only wish the authors understood the role played by oversized congressional districts (in conjunction with Duverger's Principle, as we discussed here).