Two-Party System

The phrase “two-party system” accurately describes the overall pattern of electoral competition in the United States. But it also masks a great deal of variation in the nature and extent of interparty competition.

Most statewide elections—contests for a state's electoral college votes and for the Senate and governorships—tend to be confrontations between the Democrats and the Republicans. A large proportion of congressional (House) districts, however, are safe havens for one party. About 15 percent of House seats on average are uncontested by one of the major parties in each election cycle, with the percentage typically lowest after redistricting and highest toward the end of the decade. Only eight incumbents were unopposed in 1992, but the number of uncontested races soared to ninety-five in 1998. Moreover, only a few dozen seats tend to be truly competitive. In 2000, 81.1 percent of House incumbents seeking reelection, and 69.0 percent of Senate incumbents, won with at least 60 percent of the major-party vote.

Elections for some state offices often lack authentic two-party competition. Uncontested elections are commonplace in state legislative elections, as is a lack of interparty competition, for example, in traditional Democratic strongholds in big city districts or in states [Page p483]where Republicans have long dominated. But these neat distinctions are becoming blurred. Along with the decline in party identification, Republican inroads in the South and Democratic gains in some conservative areas have made the electoral mixture more difficult to categorize. Moreover, races for state constitutional offices such as attorney general and secretary of state frequently are not competitive. For example, in 1992 in the South only half of the contests for these offices were genuinely competitive.

Comparative state studies have shown that socioeconomic diversity within a state's population contributes to two-party competition. A socially diverse population provides a basis for differences over government policy and allows both parties to build up support among selected groups.

The changeover of the South from a one-party Democratic region to one characterized by increased interparty competition and much stronger Republican showings in both national and statewide elections illustrates what happens when a society becomes more diverse. Until the 1950s the southern electorate was relatively homogeneous, sharing common ethnic, religious, and economic characteristics. It was overwhelmingly white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. The economy of the South was primarily agrarian, and its people tended to live in rural areas and small towns.

Such homogeneity, therefore, offered little basis for the development of two parties. Real two-party competition did not come to the region until industrialization, unionization, urbanization, the immigration of northerners, and increased black suffrage created divisions within southern society that enabled the Republicans to gain a basis of support.

Origins