The American Bipolarchy: An Indian Perspective

My Google News gadget is now set to pick up any news about independent candidates for the presidency. I'll probably keep it that way until November unless a crisis emerges. Expect to see plenty of stories, as we already have, about Barr, McKinney and Nader's struggles for ballot access. You'll also catch stories from foreign media offering a perspective from countries unburdened with a Bipolarchy. Here's a link to one of those, from an Indian author who notes that the situation for independent parties has gotten worse since the 2000 election, and isn't likely to improve this year. His article is a passable summary of third-party history with a nod to the structural impediments the Bipolarchy has imposed over time."It seems that this is not the year for the minor parties," he concludes, "but then, given the system, each election cycle seems like the wrong year." So much, one supposes, for the envy other countries are supposed to feel toward our wonderful system.