Is the US really only a two-party system?

Is the US really only a two-party system?

Matthew Jones (Political Science Instructor) gives expert video advice on: Why do we have political parties?; Is the US really only a two-party system?; Who decides what the party stands for? and more...

Functionally yes, it is a two-party system. Now naturally we have more than just the republican and democratic parties. We have the green party. We have the libertarian party. We have the reform party. We have the constitution party. We have... You know the list goes on to almost to the infinitive. But functionally yes, we are a two party system. In that the way that our electoral system works is that two parties really only have a chance of getting enough seats to actually govern. So, getting enough elective offices to govern. And that's because you win the majority of the vote or more votes than anyone else. You win the entire district. So it's usually a choice is between this guy A or girl A or guy A and girl B. So it becomes a two party system in that sense. It is very difficult for third parties to get any more than a small fraction of the vote.