By Tom Allon
As the old saying goes, democracy is the second worst form of government — everything else is tied for first.
This maxim could also be applied to our longstanding two-party system, which has functioned in our country for the better part of two centuries.
The defining principles of the Democrats and Republicans have sometimes shifted as I was reminded watching the movie “Lincoln” last year: The national Republicans, largely, were the abolitionists, but now many in that party oppose things such as immigration and health care reform.
What has happened in national politics in recent years is the increasing polarization and political warfare between the two parties, which is as destructive and self-defeating as it’s been in the last century.
The government shutdown, attempting to relitigate the Affordable Care Act — the constitutionality of which was upheld by the Supreme Court — and the acerbic debate about the deficit and debt limits have created an us vs. them spectacle which has impeded governance.
What happened to centrist Republicans and Democrats who were deal makers and realized that good politics lies in the art of compromise? Where are the leaders of each party who would try to find areas of common principle and then would horse trade the things they disagreed about?
In New York City and state, we actually have a different problem with the two-party system: There is really only one vital party these days — the Democrats.
If Bill de Blasio and Scott Stringer win in November, and the odds are great right now that this will happen, then all major officeholders in state and city government will be Democrats. State Senate co-leader Dean Skelos will be the last elephant standing in 2014.
Because of the dysfunction in Washington and the withering of the GOP in New York, I have become a big believer in non-partisan elections.
Most major cities in America have instituted this, including Boston and Los Angeles, and it has led to greater voter turnout.
In New York, less than 8 percent of the city’s registered Democratic voters chose the Democratic candidate for mayor in the September primary. Who knows how many people will go to the polls Nov. 5 if it looks like a landslide is inevitable?
But if we had non-partisan elections, where people of all parties compete against one another, we will increase turnout and also force voters not to vote slavishly by party but rather by principle and qualifications.
Mike Bloomberg tried in 2004 to get a referendum passed for non-partisan elections, but it did not succeed because party loyalists furiously opposed it.
One other related thought: In Puerto Rico, every four years Election Day is a holiday and 94 percent of voters go to the polls. Perhaps we can learn something from that.
With our dismal voting turnout in recent years and the cynicism about our government, isn’t it time to reform the way we vote and the two-party system?
Tom Allon, president of City & State NY, was a Republican and Liberal Party-backed mayoral candidate in 2013 before he left to return to the private sector. Reach him at tallon@cityandstateny.com.
