The tyranny of the two-party system

Democrats and Republicans: is this duopoly an immutable and indispensable aspect of American democracy?

Lisa Jane Disch maintains that it is not. There is no constitutional warrant for two parties, and winner-take-all elections need not set third parties up to fail.

She argues that the two-party system as we know it dates only to the 20th century; it impairs democracy by wasting the votes and silencing the voices of dissenters.

Disch advocates reviving a once popular 19th-century strategy called "fusion", in which a dominant-party candidate ran on the ballots of both the established party and a third party.

The book concludes by analyzing the 2000 presidential election as an object lesson in the tyranny of the two-party system and with suggestions for reform.