4.07: Article: Procrustean Politics
- Page ID
- 174599
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Discuss the following questions with a partner or in a group.
- What do you know about political parties in the US?
- What are the political parties in your country, if your country has them?
- How do people decide which party to support or follow?
- Do people always support a party 100% of the time?
- Should political parties exist?
- What does right / left mean in politics? What ideas do they represent in the US? In your country?
- If you could make your own political party, what would be some ideas you would want to focus on in your party?
- Skim the next reading. What do you think is the author’s purpose of the text: to inform, entertain, or to persuade? How will that affect the way you take notes on the reading?
Exercise \(\PageIndex{2}\): Vocabulary Building Crossword Puzzle
There are some interesting phrases in this article. Find or guess the meaning of the words in parentheses ().
- Tired from their journeys, many travelers (took him up on) the seemingly friendly offer.
- Just to be sure, most eyes shifted to see how the main event of the America Party push would (pan out) over the following months.
- When independent-minded voters (cast their votes) in general elections, they'll likely feel uncomfortably stretched when backing a major party candidate they don't fully endorse.
- …we do need more choices than the sporadic (maverick) third party presidential candidate.
Procrustean Beds and the Problem with a Two-Party Political System
By David Allen Martin (permission granted to author only; references updated for 2025)
It's not often that American politics gets me thinking about Greek mythology, but in the case of our two-party political system, I can't help but believe most of us are being forced to fit into a procrustean bed.
Stay with me. I'll explain.
According to legend, Procrustes, son of Poseidon, sat alongside a sacred road to Athens. As passersby journeyed to and from the capital city, Procrustes would invite them to his home for food and rest. Tired from their treks, many travelers took him up on the seemingly friendly offer. However, once Procrustes' guests were in his home, they soon realized their stay wouldn't be too relaxing.
Immediately, Procrustes strapped his unsuspecting visitors to an iron bed. Those who were too short for the bed would be stretched until they fit it, and those who were too tall had their dangling arms and legs lopped off. No one survived.
Nowadays, though no literal limbs have been mangled, most Americans probably feel like they're lying down on a procrustean bed anytime they step into a voter booth. If ideals and principles were fingers and toes, many voters would be faced with the decision of which digits to sacrifice when filling out a ballot.
The painful reality is that the majority of Americans do not fit tidily into the two major political parties that dominate our government. The United States is too big a country filled with too many people for two parties to credibly lay claim to blanket representation.
Elon Musk's America Party had its chance to offer a viable long-term political alternative to voters seeking a centrist option. But the wheels of that movement appear to have fallen off this past year. In July 2025, Musk announced the creation of his new party, claiming it would represent "the 80% in the middle." Just to be sure, most eyes shifted to see how the main event of the America Party push would pan out over the following months. When Musk failed to gain significant traction beyond his social media following, political experts lined up to explain why third parties face such steep obstacles in American politics. The movement that began with such fanfare has struggled to materialize into actual political power.
That's not to say the fight for political alternatives died with Musk's announcement. What it means is that such efforts face immense structural barriers and often get absorbed into—and some would say diluted by—the larger existing parties. When independent-minded voters cast their votes in general elections, they'll likely feel uncomfortably stretched when backing a major party candidate they don't fully endorse.
Of course, this phenomenon isn't exclusive to one side of the political spectrum. Democrats offer the same ill-fitting option to many who vote for them. Consider the organization Democrats for Life of America, a small group of pro-life Democrats whose position has become increasingly isolated as the party has unified around abortion rights. Recent polling shows that 86% of Democratic voters now support abortion rights, up significantly from previous years. Every election cycle, these voters sacrifice their ideological extremities to fit a pro-choice party platform. Their votes are welcome by Democrats, but on Election Day, they are forced to lay down their cherished cause in the name of party conformity.
What all this means is that more often than not, most Americans find themselves in situations where they are faced with picking an option that, to them, is not as bad as the other. Sure, there will never be a time when everyone feels completely comfortable with the composition of a ballot, but we do need more choices than the sporadic maverick third-party presidential candidate. I'm not sure there was ever really a time when a two-party system fit the needs of the American votership, but I do know it's beyond antiquated now.
I wish I had the answer to this conundrum. I wish there was a magic wand to wave. Until we figure it out, though, I'll be thinking about which of my little toes I'll be losing in the next round of elections.
David Allen Martin is a civic engagement advocate who teaches United States history at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
CEFR Level: CEF Level B2
Answer the following questions according to the article.
- What does the author mention is one of the biggest problems of having a two-party system?
- What do we know about the “America Party” from this article?
- What does it mean when the author says that pro-life Democrats “sacrifice their ideological extremities”?
- According to the author, who do people in the US usually vote for?