Being that Mingle2 caters to an international audience,
this thread isn't exclusively about political parties in the USA.

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I am only acquainted with political parties in the USA. So, I will focus on them.

In case you didn't already know, I am not a member of any political party.

Anyway, as I see it, the USA's Democratic Party and Republican Party have become archaic.
The minor parties in the USA are simply comic relief.

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What are your opinions about the political parties in your nation?

they are a right pain.... a left pain too

Political parties are "made up" entities to help control and direct the masses of people towards some common goal.
They are all fictional and have constantly changing goals stated and restated in various ways over the decades.
Yes the political parties of America are archaic (if that is the way you want to describe them) because the design is from early human development.
Without them anarchy could in fact take top spot. If you disband them there would be a power vacuum (and we all know that nature hates a vacuum). There would immediately be some new group of people spouting some common goal that must be reached or the end of all mankind and the world is the only sure next step.
Sound familiar? Take a look at what happened when "our" political parties removed the political parties from other countries (Korea, Vietnam, Irac/Iran, etc.)
As is usual there is no representation of the people in the political parties just money and power. Many will run to be in a seat of power in those parties so they can have access to that money or power using the "they are so out of touch with the common man" approach. They usually get elected too. Funny isn't it?

Ok, the parties themselves are great. It's the current past and future members of said parties that are good or bad. I am proud to call myself a democrat, but I don't agree with everything my party's members say or do. As for the 'comic relief' as you call it, it's a blight killing our governments ability to function as it was established. Obviously things change as time goes on parties stand up for or against different issues. The best thing to do is to stay current on events and issues that impact us and our neigh bors. I COMPLETLY DISAGREE with uneducated votes and voters. That is worse than not voting imo. There are good members of both parties, I just haven't encountered a republican worthy of my vote on my ballot. I watch debates, primaries, check on the claims of political ads (which I think should be limited to 10k for any office, think about the amount of time the ads run and the countless millions wasted shown by decreasing voter turnouts). If you're a republican be a republican and support what happens when YOU put them in office. If you're a democrat, be a democrat and do the same. People should discuss politics more, we all stand to learn how our government does or doesn't work.
Independents, vote for your issues, not against either or both parties, please. How can the two parties work together with a wedge between them? As you have seen since the emergenceof the sacrilegiously named tea party it has even created a rift within the republican incumbents. If no one is willing to WORK TOGETHER, how can we accomplish anything? Right? Right, good. So, don't vote for the lesser of two evils, don't just go vote. Get involved before the evils make it through their primary. Vote INFORMED an stand behind who YOU elect instead of finding the nearest member of the oppostion to dump the blame on. But most importantly GO VOTE! Everything starts and ends with the people.

Not funny Some valid points.
Yes nature hates a vacuum but there would be none without the power to create said vacuum. Who gives that power? Voters and non-voters. Republics were around much longer than the US as was the democracy our government was modelled after. We didn't make it up, we revised it and took parts of what our forefathers saw fit to include.
Now, is our government functioning the same as it was when General Washington took office? No. It has had to change to accommodate things that they couldn't have foreseen.
Does every part work the way it should? No. Large parts of it are abused neglected misused etc.
Is there a disparity between the average politician and the common man? Yes. Does that need to change? Yes. Does that mean bowlegged billy down at tractor supply should be a congressman? No. He might boil a mean peanut but he doesn't understand the significance of a power vacuum because he never left his home town.
Look at the corruption we have on all our streets in our police departments. Uncontrolled immigration, the lack of border control and all the drugs that cross our southern border and come into our ports, that's where our money is going and that's where our power is. Scrapping the whole system would ensure the largest power vacuum history has ever seen. We have the right and the power to change our government. WE NEED TO USE IT. Band-aids don't help. Don't fall for duct tape and lies. Read. Watch the news. Then GO VOTE.

yup the turn out at this year's midterms is the best evidence of the power of the vote. a lot of people voted repub when they might not have normally, just to send a message to obama, and in hopes that the repub majority in congress would slow him down to an impeachment hearing....so imperfect, yes

but when the voters mobilize it can still be an effective system.

Not American here... I don't know how different it is but for me, it's a circus, it's show biz, it's a popularity contest that just won't quit....
Makes me think that maybe democracy isn't the best system for a lot of Asian countries....

Showbusiness for ugly, boring people, that's all politics is!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Switzerland

Switzerland has a multi-party system. Since 1959, the four largest parties have formed a coalition government, according to a "Zauberformel" or "Magic formula". This arithmetic formula divides the seven cabinet seats among representatives of the four largest parties.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics_of_Switzerland





and it's still a Circus!

The European parliament, is an even bigger Circus though?

well,I am glad we ain't part of that Outfit!

Good one.

Not fair unless Forrest Gump is one of the cabinet members. Someone has half a chair. 7/4...

Jokes aside, the more we constituents TALK peacefully the better our governments can be. This is true. They said that many positive things our countries could do would never happen but they have. Change is constant but it also takes time. Yes some convos can get boring at times but we have to take the good with the bad because Mo government Made by man can be perfect. Utopia is a myth, our countries are not. The more we participate and push for the issues that really matter to us the better things can be. Kaiser, Hitler, Mussolini, qadafi, and binladen are dead. That's pretty good isn't it?

Everyone should own one

Not just banks and corporations

I'll have to wait til I see what Davidben hath to say on the subject.

Yea, it will be interesting to SEA lmao

he's a cool guy though

It will be something like ...

"The stench of political fish goes away as they sink to the bottom of the ocean of mindless voters!"

When political parties become too divided to work together for the common good, citizens pay the price..."Party affiliation" needs to go...Stop declaring a party when you register to vote...HOW you think and feel is your business, not theirs...Pay attention, vote responsibly, disregard labels; they don't mean a thing anymore...Show me a place in OUR Constitution that provides for political parties...Political parties are anti compromise with the sole purpose of staying in power...Think about that for a minute or two... ...Political parties are counterproductive when it comes to working 'for' the people....