Can't you argue the same things about the UK?
How many independent MPs are there? When was the last time we didn't have a tory or labour government? How many MPs aren't fully aligned with their parties politics? How many times have we seen industries/companies/individuals donate to parties in return for favours? FPTP?
I wouldn't say corporations are as ingrained in our political system as the US, but I don't think we're far off and I do not believe we're heading in the right direction in regards to this.
The point that I was making is that you or me could stand in an election here and not be drowned out by a million pound campaign by one of the other parties. We have spending limits to stop the main parties dominating. If me or you stood in the US election we'd have no chance. The public would probably not even know who we are, apart from seeing our names on the ballot paper at the time of voting. Over here the media have to list all the candidates in the election, and have to attempt to give reasonable equal representation to all the parties during an election time. In the US we'd never be able to get our message out.
Bernie Sanders isn't a Democrat. But he had to stand as one. The same with Trump standing as a Republican. It's because it costs too much money to run a campaign as a third party.
There are 87 MP's that aren't associated with the main two parties (excluding the Speakers position) in the UK parliament.
In a US Presidential election the American voters vote for a bunch of unelected Electors, who can ignore whatever the vote of the State was and make up their own mind.
I've defended the electoral college system in the past on here. But only because it is currently the better solution than any alternative voting idea to be presented. I've not defended it because I think its a good system. It's a bad system. But unless the dynamics of the different States change then there isn't much else that can be done.
In the recent Batley and Spen by election, a third party candidate, Galloway, managed to gain enough votes that could have altered the result (he got 21.92% of the vote). That situation doesn't happen in the US because any third party gets drowned out because they can't afford the election campaign to match the big two.
Arguably the US offers far more democracy to its citizens than we have. They get to elect everything from the dog catcher, schoolboard, to judiciary at State level. The fact that they allow jerrymandering, voter suppression and a Senate that is unrepresentative to the national population does change the equation a lot.
I bet most of them come under either the Republican or Democrat party affiliation?
Just tired of the right wing cancel culture, we had 4 years of failed ex president trump(officially worst pres of all time) trying to cancel everything in sight that disagreed with him, now its just out of control fascism.