Carrol Quigley makes the case that America is a two-party system and it works because we generally have had nearly identical parties. Therefore when one set of rascals and rapscallions got to greedy we could throw them out and bring in the other group of scoundrels and scalawags and life would go on without violent changes to the direction of the country. Now, we've lost that. Change in government means huge change in direction of the nation.