How did a political system founded by leaders who warned against factions end up making political parties an indispensable part of democracy? And why has the United States remained a two-party nation for nearly two centuries?

In this episode of This Constitution, host Matthew Brogdon sits down with political scientist Daniel DiSalvo to trace the fascinating constitutional and political journey of America’s party system. From Jefferson’s “party to end all parties” to Martin Van Buren’s invention of the enduring two-party model, they unpack the forces that created, shaped, and sustained the parties we know today.

The conversation explores how early mechanisms like the “King Caucus” gave way to national conventions, how parties managed (and sometimes suppressed) divisive issues like slavery, and why the two-party system has proven so resilient thanks to first-past-the-post elections, the Electoral College, and state ballot laws.

They also tackle a deeper question: how political parties and the Constitution are in constant tension. The Constitution disperses power through the separation of powers; parties try to assemble it to win and govern. That push-and-pull has defined American politics from the 1790s to the present.

In This Episode

• (00:13) Introduction to Daniel DiSalvo and the study of political parties
• (01:16) Founders’ skepticism toward parties and their early emergence
• (04:30) State governments’ role in shaping elections
• (06:03) The “King Caucus” and constitutional concerns
• (09:44) Jefferson’s “party to end all parties”
• (10:58) Van Buren’s case for permanent parties to avoid sectionalism
• (12:16) National conventions as a political safety valve
• (15:19) Tariffs, internal improvements, and keeping slavery off the agenda
• (18:18) How parties suppressed abolitionist voices
• (20:38) The Republican Party’s rise as the only successful third party
• (24:22) Why the U.S. has a two-party system
• (26:19) First-past-the-post elections and the Electoral College
• (31:13) The appeal (and limits) of the two-party model
• (36:00) Consensus politics in a separated-powers system
• (39:32) Why parties remain essential to democratic accountability

Notable Quotes

• (01:23) "Jefferson's opposition didn't last very long. You could say that maybe his statement shows that many statements in politics are in bad faith, since he still hopes to go to heaven, even though he was one of the founders of the first political party." — Dan DISalvo

• (02:10) "The Constitution, which sets up all these institutions, doesn't specify a way that these offices are gonna get filled up. So how are you gonna get people to be elected to these offices?" — Dan DISalvo

• (03:15) "Parties become the ligaments and the muscles that tie it together, tying citizens to the institutions set up by the Constitution." — Dan DiSalvo

• (06:30) "The process for electing presidents became what was then called the King Caucus, which was what these nascent parties in Congress were." — Dan DiSalvo

• (13:00) "Van Buren's idea is we're going to take away, get rid of this King caucus, and we're going to have this idea of national conventions." — Dan DiSalvo

• (29:00) "The Electoral College system makes it very hard for third parties to get in." — Dan DiSalvo

• (32:30) "In our system, you campaign inside your own party to win a primary election, then you campaign on what you think is good." — Dan DiSalvo