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52 Admin. L. Rev. 769 (2000)
America's Two-Party System: Friend or Foe

handle is hein.journals/admin52 and id is 781 raw text is: AMERICA'S TWO-PARTY SYSTEM: FRIEND OR FOE? DAVID A. DULIO* JAMES A. THURBER** TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ............................................................................................... 769 I. From the B eginning ........................................................................ 771 II. Parties, Rules, and the Fram ers ...................................................... 773 III. Multi-Party Arguments and the Framers ........................................ 775 IV. The Two-Party System: Serving Us Well ...................................... 781 V . Parliam ents Versus Presidents ........................................................ 789 C onclusion ................................................................................................ 79 1 INTRODUCTION Around the time of the Constitutional Convention the Framers battled over the basic tenants of the governmental system that would serve as the law of the land. The Founders fought over myriad aspects concerning the form the government would take, and how it would run. Would there be a strong or a weak central government? Would there be a one- or two- chamber legislature? How would representatives be elected? Whose re- sponsibility would it be to govern? How would the powers of government be divided? How would government be limited in order to protect citizens' freedom and liberty? The Anti-Federalists claimed that the Constitution would not ensure that individual states would remain independent of the national government, and that this would lead to national tyranny, as the government would take the power from the place it belonged, the hands of the citizens.' The Fed- * David A. Dulio is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Government School of Public Affairs at American University. His dissertation research focuses on the relationship between professional political consultants and political parties in United States elections. ** James A. Thurber is Professor of Government and Director of the Center for Con- gressional and Presidential Studies and the Campaign Management and Lobbying Institutes at American University in Washington, D.C. 1. See PAUL LIGHT, A DELICATE BALANCE: AN ESSENTIAL INTRODUCTION TO

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