The Two-Party System is Making America Ungovernable Debate

Has the two-party system in America created a toxic dynamic where the most extreme members of each political party can no longer work together? In this debate hosted by Intelligence Squared, Ariana Huffington and David Brooks argue that Democrats and Republicans are stuck in a rotten two party system that forces both sides to obey the party line at the cost of personal beliefs. Their proposed solution is a broader social movement to de-align the two parties and make way for a centrist alternative. In contrast, humorist P.J. O'Rourke is joined by Zev Chafets to argue for how durable the two-party system has remained when put under almost two centuries of stress, and caution against a de-polarized political atmosphere where smaller, single issue-based interests are enabled to fight it out on a national stage.