Which statement about the two-party system is correct?

• A. Most European countries have such a system.
• B. The United States is one of the few countries with such a system.
• C. It exists in the United States because of the absence of local party organizations.
• D. It has existed in the United States only since the early 1900s.

Answer: (B)

Understanding how electoral rules shape party systems helps explain why the United States is not alone in having two major parties. In many democracies, the rules encourage multiparty competition, especially where elections use proportional representation and multi-member districts. The United States, by contrast, uses single-member districts with winner-take-all (plurality) rules, which tend to consolidate political competition into two dominant parties and make it hard for third parties to win significant representation. That pattern has been stable for a long time, so saying the United States is one of the few countries with a two-party system is accurate.

The other statements don’t fit that record. Most European countries do not have two major parties dominating; they have several parties with meaningful influence. The existence of strong local party organizations helped support the two-party arrangement in the United States, not the absence of them. And the two-party pattern was established well before the early 1900s, arising in the 19th century rather than starting then.