Uniparty
Uniparty is used as a term to suggest that ostensibly separate political parties actually function as a single party. It is often used describing the United States Republican Party and Democratic Party as two faces of a uniparty. The implication of the term is that despite their public differences, the two parties operate behind closed doors as a single entity, intentionally creating social strife and dividing people between them while pursuing a single secret uniform set of actual goals. It is further supposed that this "uniparty" actively works to suppress any genuine alternatives from arising, using control of the media and ballot access limitations.
History
[edit]A 2017 Politico piece examining the history of the term traced it back to a 1944 scandal wherein a letter (which turned out to be a forgery) was claimed to show that Franklin D. Roosevelt had selected Wendell Willkie to be his opponent in the 1940 election.[1] Supporters of the 2000 Green Party presidential bid of Ralph Nader used the term extensively, and Nader himself called the prevailing political structure a "corporate uniparty" in his 2002 book Crashing the Party.[1]
The term has been resurgent in 2024 with claims by figures including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that the two-party system operates as a uniparty.[2]
See also
[edit]- Bipartisanship in US politics
- Boll weevil (politics)
- Duverger's law
- Problem Solvers Caucus
- Republicrat
- Rockefeller Republican
- Southern Democrats
- Third party (United States)
- Two-party system
References
[edit]- ^ a b "The Strange History of the 'Uniparty' - POLITICO Magazine".
- ^ Skelley, Geoffrey. "The far right claims there's a 'uniparty' in Washington. Reality suggests otherwise". ABC News.
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