Two Party System

The preferred political system by which the will of the people is expressed and/or shaped. The principle purpose of the two party system is to give voters a sense that they have something to gain from participation in the electoral system. As long as that participation never threatens the oligarchy, great latitude is to be permitted in the selection of candidates and the adoption of party platforms.

All forms of social permissiveness or rigor are acceptable provided that no member of the privileged class is constrained in any way, and as long as the oligarchy can control the type and scale of spontaneous outbursts of social expression. All forms of economic permissiveness or rigor are acceptable provided that no member of the privileged class is prevented from playing the system for economic advantage and as long as the oligarchy can control the major movement of capital and resources, including labor. All forms of foreign adventurism or isolationism are acceptable as long as key investments identified by the oligarchy are established and remain in place at their discretion.

This system, arrived at after only four centuries of tinkering, permits the creation and or destruction of whole classes of pseudo-elites. For instance, either party may favor or suppress, at any time, labor leaders, education leaders, academic or scientific elites, cultural elites, entertainment elites, religious elites, sports or business elites etc.

Either party may raise up political figureheads to inaugurate a new round of political stagecraft. Whatever it takes to amuse or scare the masses is acceptable as long as the oligarchy is never threatened or its purposes or policies thwarted.

Actually, there is a natural tendency for any legitimate two-party system to drift into an oligarchy. All it takes is for both parties to become thoroughly corrupt. The natural and normal byproduct of political corruption is for the leadership of a party to seek power for its own sake.

In such a system the preferred mode of operation is called big tent party structure. This mode of operation is particularly complex when there exists an effective shadow party or unofficial third party which effectively acts as a swing vote in key elections, thereby ensuring that its own core policy is always implemented. Primary examples in 21st century America include the neo-conservative party and the progressive party. Both of these parties are examples of big government party which ensures that their core policies are implemented, even, may it be said, in opposition to the majority consensus of the voting public. According to this rule, the leadership, visible or otherwise, of an effective combination of shadow third parties inevitably become the new oligarchy.

It may be observed that the principle thrust of this reflection tends to contradict that to be found in the entry on the Ruling Oligarchy. Politics, however, is an inherently elusive subject, given that it concerns the behavior of us irrational human beings, so this is perhaps to be expected.