From: nicholasiii@gmail.com   
      
   On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 6:10:01 PM UTC-4, Alan Smaill wrote:   
   > Nicholas Benjamin  writes:   
   >    
   > > On Sunday, May 10, 2015 at 2:00:01 PM UTC-4, Alan Smaill wrote:   
   > >> Nicholas Benjamin  writes:   
   > >>    
   > ...   
   > >> > In the UK Parliamentary election, which is the one we are actually   
   > >> > talking about, there are three parties and a guy from Dumfries. The   
   > >> > three parties are Labour,. the LibDems, and the SNP. Thaty is a   
   > >> > three-party system.   
   > >>    
   > >> Let's see Conservatives, LibDems, Labour, SNP --   
   > >> that makes 4.  (the Conservatives got more votes in Scotland   
   > >> than the LibDems;  Con, LibDem and Labour have 1 seat each.)     
   > >> Not to mention that the UK parliament has Green and UKIP MPs (and NI   
   > >> parties).   
   > ...   
   > > Question:   
   > >   
   > > Why do you think of of that affects the number of parties in the party   
   > > system?   
   >    
   > I have no idea what that means.   
      
   This particular kurfufle was caused when I said Scotland had a t   
   ree-party-system. Soupdragon immediately responded by naming all Parties in   
   the current Scots Parliament.   
      
   But that's not how one defines the Party system. If it was Kirsten Gillibrand   
   in the US Senate would be a three-party system all by herself because her name   
   appeared on the tickets of the Dems, Independence Party, and the Working   
   Families Party.   
      
   Which brings me to:   
      
   > > The US has many many more then two parties. Most of them are elected   
   > > at one level or another. It gets even more complicated when you get   
   > > deep into the details (New York State pols, for example, are generally   
   > > nominated by at least two separate parties; the Dem side alone has   
   > > technically elected Senators under at least four different party   
   > > labels in the past decade, etc.). It's still a two-party system   
   > > because the WFP is not gonna get an official job anytime soon.   
   >    
   > Of the parties currently represented from Scotland at Westminster, all   
   > 4 have or have had recently roles in government at UK or Scottish   
   > level.   
      
   But only three could ever have a role in a Scottish government, and the   
   statement I am defending is "it's a three-party system in Scotland," not "it's   
   a three party-system in the UK." Scotland has much different politics then the   
   rest of the country.   
      
   If my argument was about the UK as a whole it would be somewhat more complex   
   because the SNP could conceivably end up with a role in Westminster beyond   
   Question Time, but that would take a very interesting confluence of   
   circumstances (albeit one that    
   polling prior to this last election implied could come to pass). The LibDem   
   wipeout could also affect the number, but I suspect they too will rise again   
   from the flames as Labour needs to move back towards it's working class base,   
   which will leave the UK    
   equivalent of the Limousine Liberal without a party.   
      
   Nick   
      
   >    
   > >   
   > > Nick   
   >    
   > --    
   > Alan Smaill   
      
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