Introduction in Response to the Class's Interest in Having a More Diverse

Introduction

In response to the class’s interest in having a more diverse political party system in the

United States, the group was tasked with designing an alternative political landscape for the US.

Upon reflecting on the current 2020 election cycle, the group thought beyond the current two-party system. A four party system was generated along with the name and leader of each party, position of each party on the political spectrum, general platform and ideologies, and the predicted house seats of each party based on polling, were determined.

Based on this information, a graphic was designed to reflect the new multi-party system.

The designed graphic, displayed below, consists of four political parties on a scale of most conservative to most liberal. A unique animal symbol was chosen to represent each party. Three specific policy proposals that each party would campaign for-assuming they were all campaigning in the current cycle-were also determined and explained. The analysis following the graphic explains the reasons behind the choices the group made for the parties/leaders, vote share, symbols, and policy proposals. In accordance with the course’s objective of studying elections and political systems in a broader context, the project displayed below forced the group to think beyond the conventional two-party American system and apply features of the political systems of other nations studied in the course.

Analysis

The parties selected by the group include the People’s Party, the Moderate Party, the

Liberal Party, and the Social Democratic Party. Each party was assigned a marine animal as their symbol. The People’s Party and Liberal Party were given the largest animals because they represent the largest percentage of the vote. The seahorse was assigned to the Social Democratic

Party because seahorses do not have strict gender roles, exemplified by the fact that the males give birth. Seahorses oppose traditional social structures, similar to the beliefs of the Social

Democrats. Lastly, the dolphin was assigned to the Moderate Party because a dolphin is a large, yet harmless mammal. The Moderate Party contains a significant number of voters, yet is not extremely active, as members typically end up voting Democrat or Republican.

The party leaders were based on the presidential candidates running for each party and popular representatives from Congress. Donald Trump and Joe Biden were obvious choices, as they are the major party candidates in the 2020 presidential election. Mitt Romney was selected as the leader of the Moderate Party; his views have shifted from the right to the middle in recent years and his influence in the Senate is growing rapidly. Finally, the group chose Alexandria

Ocasio-Cortez as the leader of the Social Democratic Party. The group made this choice over

Bernie Sanders due to her growing popularity and future potential as a politician. It is highly unlikely, due both to his age and previous failed attempts, that Sanders will run for the presidency again. The vote share was determined by viewing polls from the final significant primaries prior to major dropouts. The group also referenced data from predictions of the 2020

House of Representatives election.

For the general platforms and specific policies, data revealing repeated trends with associated parties was integrated with specific policies and issues promoted by the designated

leaders of each party. The People’s Party’s general platform and policies were determined to be nativist, nationalist, protectionist, fiscally conservative, and small government. When describing three specific policies of the party, the group focused more on Trump’s individual goals and his agenda. While Trump has a firm stance on his policies in a variety of areas, the group chose to focus on the economy, health care, and foreign policy. In regards to the economy, Trump wants to lower individual and corporate taxes and end trade deficits while eliminating Obamacare, reducing drug prices, and reforming Medicaid. Trump’s foreign policy strategy is to challenge international allies and embrace adversaries-for example, US and Russia relations. For the

Liberal Party, the group chose the same major policy areas to reveal the differences between the

Democrats and Republicans. The general platform of the Liberal Party is socially liberal, large government, and pro-immigration reform. In the economic arena, Biden wants to raise the federal minimum wage and ensure the protection of US goods. In direct opposition to Trump’s healthcare plan, Biden wants to build upon Obamacare, allow the importation of drugs from foreign nations, and lower the Medicare age from 65 to 60. Biden has voiced his desire to undo

Trump’s foreign policy initiatives if he is elected. For example, he wants to reestablish a nuclear deal with Iran, repair US relations with NATO, and bring home US troops from Afghanistan.

Since the Moderate Party is the middle ground between the People’s Party and the

Liberal Party, the group again decided to choose the same policy issues. This was done in order to evaluate their stances and reveal the similarities and differences. In general, the Moderate

Party is fiscally conservative, socially neutral, and supports small government. They support the fair regulation of both large and small companies. In terms of healthcare, they support both public and private options. They support the US’s engagement with foreign nations, but also value the importance of taking care of our needs at home. As evidenced by their specific policies,

they indeed are a middle ground between Democrats and Republicans. In regards to the Social

Democratic Party, the group chose slightly different policy issues since the party is more issue based. In general, the Social Democratic Party’s platform is socially liberal, supports a large government, is pro-immigration, climate conscious, and supports wealth redistribution. The group focused on the issues Cortez values as integral to her position as a politician. Cortez supports an education reform that includes the protection of public schools from budget cuts, enhanced curriculums, cancelation of all student debt, and free public tuition at universities.

Cortez is also a huge proponent for Medicare for All and a Green New Deal. The Social

Democrats value specific issues as the core of their platform, which varies from the other three parties.

Conclusion

Overall, the group learned a lot about the political landscape in the United States through this activity. One major takeaway is the polarization of politics in the United States. It became evident, through the research into the vote share and polling, that the majority of voters choose extreme candidates. The group believes that an extreme overhaul of Congress would have beneficial effects without changing the current system so much that it would be unrecognizable.

Even though policies would likely be made and implemented in the same way as a parliamentary system, candidates would not change their platforms so the system would be representative of true American desires and beliefs.

The group also learned during the course, though many countries modeled their political systems around the United States’, these countries have less political turmoil and a more effective multi-party political system. This is because a multi-party system allows for countries to have more representation in their political system. In American politics, many decisions fall along party lines or are unable to be made because of polarization. Through the analysis of political landscapes in countries around the world, it became evident that a parliamentary system would very likely be more effective. Overall, the group found this project and this course very effective and feels more prepared to participate in and advocate for change in our current election system.

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