Are there any other active political parties in the United States besides the Republicans and the Democrats? What I mean by active is, do they hold any seats in congress, or other areas of government? If not, why are there only 2 political parties? In Canada, right now we have 5 parties who occupy seats.

Here are 8 of them... but we've even got Socialists and probably a couple more:
http://www.govspot.com/categories/politicalparties.htm

I can't find which ones are represented in Congress, but effectively speaking, we really do only have 2 parties, as nowhere in the near future can we expect (imho) anything but a Republican or Democrat being elected president - or being enough of a presence in Congress to make a difference.

It's really too bad. Many of us here in the US are pretty sick of the two we've got now.

Hi,
I do agree with many of us being "pretty sick" with our two parties here in the US!
The Republican and Democrat parties have been around for a very, very long time... with no others in sight to gain any significant ground on them.
Some of us believe the Congressional members should vote to limit their terms in public office, such as the President, Governors, etc. We do know that is almost an impossibility, since some these members have a history of staying in office until they are 80. Think they want to vote themselves out of office? no.

Thanks for the link, Rick and thanks for both of your responses, Fred and Rick. I understand you getting sick of just having the two parties, I wouldn't like it much, either. I like having more of a choice myself. Since I've turned 18 I've voted for 3 different political parties (I changed my mind a few times, haha), and all 3 who I voted for won a seat! :)

Orange, we only have two real political parties but they all come from the same barrel, disgusting I know.:cool: :rolleyes:

Yea, I myself vote for individual, not the party, who is closest to my views, but this is hard to do when there is only two "real" candidates. The other parties don't usually get anywhere. Although I do wonder if they would get further if all of the people who are afraid of "waisting their vote" voted for them. I know I have been guilty of that opinion also (waisting my vote)

In the last election, I voted for the candidate, and my candidate got in, but she is not the same political party as the current government. I used to worry about that being a waste of my vote, but I heard recently that with a certain number of votes, a party receives money from the government, like a kind of grant I guess. So voting is actually like giving a donation to the party in that case. Do you have something similar in the United States?

Hmm, I am not sure, I will have to check in to that, but I don't think we do that here.

Yes we do, who ever wins get to control the money and make all their friends rich.:cool: :eek:

Yea... this is true! :)

LOL well this is different... this money is given to every political party. It's supposed to help fledgling parties grow I guess.

In the U.S. the rich guys get their candidate to give them all kinds of money, contracts and even party them so they can get laws and legislations favorable to them so they can get richer. Fledgling parties don't have the money so they get kicked to the curb, while the big boys party and split the money and get together so they can plan how to get more money. To date you can't tell a republican from a democrat but you can always ask but they both have always helped each other to keep the money going in one big circle... theirs! Oh before I forget we get to vote for the fat cat with the most money and the slickest plan, but the winner depends on who the electoral college picks. They are paid for by the parties to make sure the right guy wins. This process plays out on american TV for months so we don't get bored by to many reruns of Taxi. So this is the democratic process we want the world to immulate, which is the best in the world worth dying for and spreading to the heathens in Iraq and every where else worth a dime.:cool: :eek:

Ugh. Isn't that illegal? A similar thing happened here in Canada recently and the people responsible were charged or are in the process of being charged.

In America the rich guys never turn each other in and if they do get caught they can just file bankruptcy and get probation or get sentenced to a country club until they improve their golf swings then they go back to their mansions and get rich again.hey it's the American way and if you don't like it move to Canada!:cool::eek:

The sad truth about American politics is there truly arent two parties. We are a republic not a democracy. When you have two extreme sides the same something this isnt a democracy. It is like having a coin. It has two sides but it is the same coin. Repubs and Demo's are the different sides of the same coin, just extreme measures of parallel the same agenda.
Even independents, green party, etc are only facets of the same line of thinking.
To begin a change and a revolution of thought would be to change the idea and thinking to produce a different line of politic reality.
We must restructure our entire political system to ever escape this current republic.
Read the definitions and tell me what you see the USA as being closest to:

Republic: 1. political system with powerful electorate: a political system or form of government in which people elect representatives to exercise power for them
2. state with powerful electorate: a state or other political unit with a form of government in which the supreme power is in the hands of representatives elected by the people

Democracy: 1. free and equal representation of people: the free and equal right of every person to participate in a system of government, often practiced by electing representatives of the people by the people “Democracy is like the experience of life itself – always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested for adversity.” Jimmy Carter Speech to Parliament of India June 2, 1978
2. democratic nation: a country with a government that has been elected freely and equally by all its citizens
3. democratic governmental system: a system of government based on the principle of majority decision-making
4. organizational control by members: the control of an organization by its members, who have a free and equal right to participate in decision-making processes

Socialism: 1. political system of communal ownership: a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are controlled by the people and operated according to equity and fairness rather than market principles
2. movement based on socialism: any of several political movements or theories of the 19th and 20th centuries based on principles of socialism, typically advocating an end to private property and the exploitation of workers
3. stage between capitalism and communism: in Marxist theory, the stage after the proletarian revolution when a society is changing from capitalism to communism, marked by pay distributed according to work done rather than need


Capitalism: free-market system: an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and distribution of goods, characterized by a free competitive market and motivation by profit

The reason we are not a Democracy is one major part of the definition " free and equal representation of people".

Hypatia

Hypatia:

The reason the United States, that is suppose to be a democratic republic, is no longer democratic is because of the DLC, the Democratic Leadership Council, that has pretty much taken over Congress IS actually REPUBLICAN. The DLC http://www.ndol.org, also known as NDN http://www.ndn.org/, and is also known as NDC http://www.house.gov/tauscher/ndc/membership.shtml is a RIGHT WING EXTREME ORGANIZATION under all these names, and may have morphed into more as they are trying desperately to deceive the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE WORLD.

This is a website for a listing of some of the DLC, NDN or NDC members:

http://www.nndb.com/group/269/000093987/ New Democrat Network [All DLC]

For the United States to be able to get out of the REPUBLICAN Bush War in Iraq, the REPUBLICAN LITE NEW FAUX-LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP COUNCIL, DLC, that COOPERATES to keep the United States in the war, must be unmasked for the REPUBLICAN RIGHT WING EXTREME ORGANIZATION that it is:

UNMASKING THE Democratic Leadership Council, DLC, NDN or NDC:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-g...c_b_39287.html

Democratic Leadership "Weaselship" Council, DLC, NDN or NDC Information:

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/1463

NEW DEMOCRAT COALITION OF NEW LIBERAL/REPUBLICANS:

http://www.house.gov/tauscher/ndc/membership.shtml

THE REPUBLICAN/DLC WAR PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY:

http://www.newamericancentury.org/

Official Website for the DLC, NDN or NDC - NEW DEMOCRAT/REPUBLICAN LITE NEW LIBERAL MOVEMENT:

http://www.ndol.org

This IS the DLC, NDN or NDC's DLC official website. Be sure and open this site because Hilary Clinton and Bill Clinton are front and center with their REPUBLICAN LITE NEW FAUX-LIBERAL PROPAGANDA that is against the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION.

The following url is an alphabetical list of some members of the DLC. There are only a few democratic members in Congress who haven't been led to the autocratic RIGHT against the best interest of the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION and WE THE PEOPLE of the 70% MAJORITY COMMON POPULATION need to rally the few and vote out all DLC, NDN or NDC globalization members:

http://www.nndb.com/group/269/000093987/

DLC Members are trying to hide before the election. Notice who the members are in each of these groups. Do you see any similarities? The groups are the same group under different alias names:

DLC - Democratic Leadership Council [Also, New Democrat Coalition, NDC & New Democrat Network, NDN]http://www.ndol.org

NDN - New Democrat Network [Same as Democratic Leadership Council, DLC]http://www.ndn.org/

NDC - New Democrat Coalition [Same as Democratic Leadership Council, DLC] http://www.house.gov/tauscher/ndc/membership.shtml