To be honest, I feel like the two-party system is ending. When Democrats and Republicans determine their nominees for president, one political party will select a nominee with whom few constituents are familiar. The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States and will play a role in the 2016 elections.
Libertarianism is the political philosophy of freedom. With our current political system, the Libertarian Party has not been allowed on the ballot in several key states and has not been able to create a viable campaign to nominate an individual to run on a third party ticket. However, our country is changing. The Republican Party has, as of March 2016, a majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives and a majority of state governorships. At the same time, the Democratic Party has a minority of Senate and House and governorships, but they have control of the White House with President Barack Obama as a two-term president. The outcome of this election will change both political parties.
If the Republicans are not able to put their nominee in the White House, it will fracture the party, and if they nominate a demagogue, the GOP will split into various factions, potentially lose various House and Senate seats and severely distort their brand of conservatism.
The Democrats are not in a better position. They need their eventual nominee to be the 45th president of the United States or the party could decline. If their nominee is not the next president then their brand of liberalism and progressivism could begin to diminish.
Our current political system is locked in a cycle. If the GOP will not act as their constituents desire, then voters will elect a Democrat and vice-versa. The result of electing either party is increased government spending, partisan decisions and gerrymandering that prevents real change that would benefit our country as a whole. The solution to the two-party system is to embrace libertarianism and elect a candidate from the Libertarian Party.
The Libertarian Party believes in allowing people to do what they want as long as it does not infringe on another’s personal liberties and human rights. They support a variety of issues that the two major political parties value, such as maintaining the Second Amendment in its entirety, protecting the environment, allowing a free market economy to prosper and encouraging consumer choice concerning areas such as education and healthcare. They state their beliefs on their website and offer a new perspective to solving our nation’s problems.
Libertarianism is the best alternative to the collapsing political parties that we have today. It should be the party that college students identify with more than the two main parties. The Libertarian Party guarantees the choice and freedom to make your own decisions when faced with controversial issues. Libertarianism will allow college students a larger voice in government, if they stand by the political party that advocates for issues they care about, such as a right to privacy, supporting a clean environment and being pro-same-sex marriage, since the Libertarian Party’s formation in 1971. A growing number of college students have libertarian beliefs and values that fit with this party more than the two major parties.
This election year will be a wake-up call and a revelation that we need another option to the two-party system. Libertarianism could serve as a viable solution to partisan politics and two parties that continue to feud with each other instead of working for the greater good of the U.S. Please take note that individual politicians are not the problem; the problem is two parties that put their interests above your interests.
2016 is the year partisan politics has to stop. It would be unwise to replace every single elected official, and there are elected senators, representatives, etc. from both parties who work to the benefit of the American people. To put an end to partisan politics, we need to elect Libertarians in our local, state and federal governments. Libertarianism is the best solution to protect all of our rights and to ensure that we the people are in charge of our government.
The Libertarian Party presents a view that is a mix of the two major parties and will work for our benefit. The outcome of the election will allow the continued existence of our two-party system but as the Libertarian Party continues to gather voter support, the U.S. must continue to change and to think in new ways, regardless of the right-left view of politics. People are beginning to think in the libertarian mindset of maximum freedom for minimum government.
