Are the parties over?

by Thomas Mills, Politics NC, February 26, 2016.

This year seems to herald the beginning of the end of the two party system. It’s probably actually been happening for awhile and it will probably take a lot longer to complete the transition. However, without some sort of intervention through legislation or the courts, the parties themselves seem anachronistic.

Donald Trump is clearly not a conservative and yet he’s trouncing the standard bearers of the conservative party. Bernie Sanders is not a Democrat and hasn’t been for a very long time but he’s galvanized a large portion of the Democrats’ traditional base. And, before this year, Barack Obama built a parallel organization separate from the Democratic National Committee and even competed with the traditional party for funds.

Back in the early 1990s, some Democrats in North Carolina griped that then-Governor Jim Hunt built a separate organization instead of using the party. Hunt used a system of county keys instead of party officers to raise money and build organization. It was smart politics and he built a machine that enabled him to win elections and build coalitions that extended beyond the party itself. He continued to support the party, though, and backed efforts to elect other Democrats.

Twenty something years later and parties at the state, local, and national level are struggling to find relevance and the money necessary to support them. SuperPACs have stolen the fundraising base of the party and virtually every candidate campaign evolves separate from party organizations. Campaign finance laws designed to reduce money in politics have weakened the party system while creating avenues to financially prop up campaigns outside of the traditional party structure.

Parties were once fairly big tents designed to house coalitions bound by broad principles. Democrats were the party of the average citizens who believe government can offer protection from discrimination, a hand up for the economically disadvantaged, and tools for upward economic mobility. The Republican Party believed in the power of the free market to do far more for people than anything government could to and just wanted government to get out of the way of business and let people pursue their dreams unimpeded by regulations or restrictions.

Today, the coalitions have turned into interest groups who have their own sources of funding and pursue their own agendas. The two political parties struggle to define themselves for a new generation of voters. Bernie Sanders’ supporters have open disdain for the Democratic Party. Trump supporters are bound by anger and resentment, not commitment to common goals. Trump represents a major portion of today’s Republican base. Bernie reflects the views of the rising generation of leaders on the left.

Neither party can survive for long when they are abandoned by substantial portions of the population necessary for their success. The funders have essentially left. This election shows that the base is following suit. Without some mechanism to force money to funnel through parties again, they’ll have a severely diminished place in the American political system in the coming years.

http://www.politicsnc.com/are-the-parties-over/