Editing Political party (section)

===Multi-party systems===
{{Main|Multi-party system}}
[[File:Boleta electoral marcada, de las elecciones federales de México de 2012.JPG|thumb|upright=1|right|On this 2012 Mexican ballot, voters have more than two parties to choose from.]]
Multi-party systems are systems in which more than two parties have a realistic chance of holding power and influencing policy.<ref name=coppedge98/> A very large number of systems around the world have had periods of multi-party competition,<ref>{{cite book |first=Giovanni |last=Sartori |year=2005 |title=Parties and Party Systems: A Framework for Analysis |chapter=The overall framework |pages=243–2281 |publisher=European Consortium for Political Research Press |isbn=0954796616}}</ref> and two-party democracies may be considered unusual or uncommon compared to multi-party systems.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Stephen P. Nicholson |author2=Christopher J. Carman |author3=Chelsea M. Coe |author4=Aidan Feeney |author5=Balázs Fehér |author6=Brett K. Hayes |author7=Christopher Kam |author8=Jeffrey A. Karp |author9=Gergo Vaczi |author10=Evan Heit |title=The Nature of Party Categories in Two-Party and Multiparty Systems |journal=Advances in Political Psychology |volume=39 |issue=S1 |pages=279–304 |date=13 February 2018 |doi=10.1111/pops.12486|url=https://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/15873 |doi-access=free |hdl=1959.4/unsworks_76305 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Many of the [[List of countries by population (United Nations)|largest democracies in the world]] have had long periods of multi-party competition, including [[India]],<ref name=heath05>{{cite book |author1=Anthony Heath |author2=Siana Glouharova |author3=Oliver Heath |chapter=India: Two-Party Contests within a Multiparty System |year=2005 |editor1=Michael Gallagher |editor2=Paul Mitchell |title=The Politics of Electoral Systems |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199257560 |doi=10.1093/0199257566.003.0007 |pages=137–156}}</ref> [[Indonesia]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=A. Farid Wadjdi |author2=Mistiani |author3=Nebula F. Hasani |title= The Multi-Party System in Indonesia: Reviewing the Number of Electoral Parties from the Aspects of the National Defense and Security |journal=Journal of Social and Political Sciences |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=711–724 |year=2020 |doi=10.31014/aior.1991.03.03.204|s2cid=224991370 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/3975661 }}</ref> [[Pakistan]],<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Xiang Wu |author2=Salman Ali |title=The Novel Changes in Pakistan's Party Politics: Analysis of Causes and Impacts |journal=Chinese Political Science Review |volume=5 |pages=513–533 |date=25 July 2020 |issue=4 |doi=10.1007/s41111-020-00156-z|s2cid=220833554 |doi-access=free |pmc=7382323 }}</ref> and [[Brazil]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://neci.fflch.usp.br/sites/neci.fflch.usp.br/files/Freitas_CoalitionalPresidentialism3%20(1).pdf |title=Governmental Coalitions in Multiparty Presidentialism: The Brazilian Case (1988–2011) |first=Andréa |last=Marcondes de Freitas |publisher=Universidade de São Paulo |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=19 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190119100144/http://neci.fflch.usp.br/sites/neci.fflch.usp.br/files/Freitas_CoalitionalPresidentialism3%20(1).pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Multi-party systems encourage characteristically different types of governance than smaller party systems, for example by often encouraging the formation of [[coalition governments]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lawrence C. |last=Dodd |title=Party Coalitions in Multiparty Parliaments: A Game-Theoretic Analysis |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=1093–1117 |date=September 1974 |doi=10.2307/1959150|jstor=1959150 |s2cid=147014497 }}</ref>

The presence of many competing political parties is usually associated with a greater level of democracy, and a country transitioning from having a one-party system to having a many-party system is often considered to be [[democratization|democratizing]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Giovanni M. |last=Carbone |title=Developing Multi-Party Politics: Stability and Change in Ghana and Mozambique |journal=Crisis States Programme Working Paper Series |volume=1 |issue=36 |url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/28232/1/wp36.pdf |access-date=23 January 2021 |date=November 2003 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130002957/http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/28232/1/wp36.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Authoritarian countries can include multi-party competition, but typically this occurs when the elections are [[Unfair election|not fair]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Susanne |last=Michalik |chapter=Introduction |title=Multiparty Elections in Authoritarian Regimes |isbn=978-3-658-09510-9 |page=1 |year= 2015 |doi=10.1007/978-3-658-09511-6_1}}</ref> For this reason, in two-party democracies like the United States, proponents of forming new competitive political parties often argue that developing a multi-party system would make the country more democratic.<ref name="foreignpolicy">{{cite news |url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/19/us-democracy-two-party-system-replace-multiparty-republican-democrat/ |title=Let a Thousand Parties Bloom |work=Foreign Policy |first=Lee |last=Drutman |date=19 October 2019 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=13 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213034325/https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/19/us-democracy-two-party-system-replace-multiparty-republican-democrat/ |url-status=live }}</ref> However, the question of whether multi-party systems are more democratic than two-party systems, or if they enjoy better policy outcomes, is a subject of substantial disagreement among scholars<ref>{{cite news |url=http://bostonreview.net/politics/sam-rosenfeld-it-takes-three-or-more |title=It Takes Three (or More) |work=Boston Review |first=Sam |last=Rosenfeld |date=14 April 2020 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=28 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210128162209/http://bostonreview.net/politics/sam-rosenfeld-it-takes-three-or-more |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.e-ir.info/2012/11/21/does-a-multi-party-system-lead-to-more-democracy/ |title=Does a Multi-party System Lead to "More" Democracy? |work=E-International Relations |first=Anastasija |last=Malachova |date=21 November 2012 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=29 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210129035657/https://www.e-ir.info/2012/11/21/does-a-multi-party-system-lead-to-more-democracy/ |url-status=live }}</ref> as well as among the public.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.afrobarometer.org/press/africans-increasingly-support-multiparty-democracy-trust-political-parties-remains-low |title=Africans increasingly support multiparty democracy, but trust in political parties remains low |publisher=[[Afrobarometer]] |date=18 June 2018 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130234309/https://www.afrobarometer.org/press/africans-increasingly-support-multiparty-democracy-trust-political-parties-remains-low |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Todd |last1=Donovan |first2=Janine A. |last2=Parry |first3=Shaun|last3= Bowler |title=O Other, Where Art Thou? Support for Multiparty Politics in the United States |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=86 |issue=1 |pages=147–159 |date=March 2005|doi=10.1111/j.0038-4941.2005.00295.x|doi-access=free }}</ref> In the opposite extreme, a country with a very large number of parties can experience governing coalitions that include highly ideologically diverse parties that are unable to make much policy progress, which may cause the country to be unstable and experience a very large number of elections; examples of systems that have been described as having these problems include periods in the recent history of [[Israel]],<ref>{{cite book |author1=Gideon Rahat |author2=Reuven Y. Hazan |chapter=Israel: The Politics of an Extreme Electoral System |year=2005 |editor1=Michael Gallagher |editor2=Paul Mitchell |title=The Politics of Electoral Systems |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199257560 |doi=10.1093/0199257566.001.0001 |pages=333–351}}</ref> [[Italy]], and [[Finland]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Tapio |last=Raunio |chapter=Finland: One Hundred Years of Quietude |year=2005 |editor1=Michael Gallagher |editor2=Paul Mitchell |title=The Politics of Electoral Systems |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0199257560 |doi=10.1093/0199257566.001.0001 |page=486}}</ref> Multi-party systems are often viewed as fairer or more representative than one- or two-party systems,<ref name="foreignpolicy"/> but they also have downsides, like the likelihood that in a system with [[plurality voting]] the winner of a race with many options will only have minority support.<ref name=ganawari17>{{cite journal |first=Bharatu G. |last=Ganawari |title=The stability of multi-party system in Indian democracy: A critique |journal=International Journal of Arts and Science Research |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=97–102 |year=2017}}</ref>

Some multi-party systems may have two parties that are noticeably more competitive than the other parties.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://observer.com/2016/07/why-the-two-party-system-isnt-as-broken-as-you-may-think/ |title=Why the Two-Party System Isn't as Broken as You May Think |work=Observer |first=Darrell |last=Francis |date=13 July 2016 |access-date=22 January 2021 |archive-date=30 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210130032202/https://observer.com/2016/07/why-the-two-party-system-isnt-as-broken-as-you-may-think/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Such party systems have been called "two-party-plus" systems, which refers to the two dominant parties, plus other parties that exist but rarely or never hold power in the government.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Leon D. |last=Epstein |title=A Comparative Study of Canadian Parties |journal=The American Political Science Review |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=46–59 |date=March 1964 |doi=10.2307/1952754|jstor=1952754 |s2cid=145086350 }}</ref> Such parties may serve a crucial factor in election outcomes.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Basham|first=Patrick |author-link=Patrick Basham|editor-first=Ronald |editor-last=Hamowy |editor-link=Ronald Hamowy |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Libertarianism |chapter=Political Parties|chapter-url=https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/libertarianism/n233.xml|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=yxNgXs3TkJYC  |doi=10.4135/9781412965811.n233 |year=2008 |publisher= [[SAGE Publishing|Sage]]; [[Cato Institute]] |location= Thousand Oaks, CA  |isbn= 978-1412965804 |oclc=750831024| lccn = 2008009151 |pages=379–380}}</ref> It is also possible for very large multi-party systems, like India's, to nevertheless be characterized largely by a series of regional contests that realistically have only two competitive parties, but in the aggregate can produce many more than two parties that have major roles in the country's national politics.<ref name=heath05/>