Problem with two party systems is the lack of a corrective mechanism.
All it takes for dems or republicans to win is the other side fucking up worse.
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"Oh look, more of the same bullshit got us elected. Let's do it all over again!"
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The Libertarians or Greens aren't magically going to get 30% of the vote when the bigger parties fuck up, so there's no incentive to change.
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Conversely, in countries that aren't duopolies, parties often just form sufficiently big coalitions to get around all but the worst voter flights.
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You cast your vote for one party, they join up with one party you tolerate and two that you hate to take executive power.
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A lot of people, particularly in the actual political class, seem to think democracy is under threat from subversive elements, fascists etc.
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I tend to think that it's mostly just under threat from our own willful negligience. These systems have been subverted by normal politicians.
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And tempting as it may be to accuse politicians of being powermongering little shits (which they often are), the real problem is just us. Humans.
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Exactly the same thing happens to contemplative lineages (do you see much esoteric Christianity these days? how about legitimate yoga?)..,
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... companies (CEOs/sales departments rewarded for short-term profits that, in the long run, worsen the company's prospects)...
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... autocracies (you had a competent dictator? oops, they died)...
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...etc.
We just can't seem to figure out how to create power structures that aren't eventually taken over by the most corrupt and incompetent.
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And even when we get it right, for brief periods of time, eventually the system is taken over by people who no longer know how to run it right.
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This was less of a problem in our tribal days, before we had the collective power to quite literally destroy our only viable biosphere.
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Now we're on the clock.
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