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Elective Office Problem

122 Words1 Pages
Parties solve the problem of ambition and elective office seeking by managing the political structures and career ladders. In Why Parties, John Aldrich writes, “If elective office is indeed valuable, there will be more aspirants than offices, and the political party and the two-party system are means of regulating that competition and channeling those ambitions.” The somewhat institutionalized paths parties set up helps regulate politicians incentives and decrease the amount of intraparty competition. However, parties have not always been able to solve this problem; a classic example is the 1912 election where Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft split the Republican vote, thus allowing Woodrow Wilson to win. Still, parties have a better ability
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