This. There an infinite number of ideologies that you could have, but our first past the post voting system (in the US) only allows for two candidates, so an infinite spectrum gets funneled into two camps.
This. There an infinite number of ideologies that you could have, but our first past the post voting system (in the US) only allows for two candidates, so an infinite spectrum gets funneled into two camps.
yata@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
Left/right isn’t an exclusively American concept, it is used all over the world regardless of the political system of the country.
sab@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I think that’s what they’re saying: in most of the world it’s used as a gradient/spectrum, just a few countries consider it absolutes (you’re either left or right).
bric@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Yeah, that’s why I specified US, there are plenty of places where it’s more of a gradiant, or where left and right are just two of many options. although unfortunately fptp is the norm in most of the world. The US is unusually polarized even among fptp countries, but countries that have better voting systems that allow for more than two parties are the exception, not the norm.
sab@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Are you sure about that? I have no numbers to back it up, but at least here in Europe many countries have more than two parties to choose from, and the winning parties form a governing coalition (alliance).
Unless by beter voting system you mean something like Ranked voting etc, in which case I agree, that is unfortunately very rare.