Answer:
The advantages of having political parties in the U.S are
1) different interests can be joined in a single entity, for example, the democratic party represents the vastly different interests of most African American communities in the U.S.
2) Helping voters clarify political discourse and positions. Without parties, politics could be even more complicated for the average voter.
The disadvantages are:
1) political parties tend to become self-interested organizations much like corporations, and many of its members work for the survival of the party itself, or for keeping their political position, than for the common good that parties are supposed to represent.
2) political parties can promote political polarization and partisanship, which makes the political process more aggressive and less effective.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the different party systems
The advantage of a two-party system is that it makes the formation of governments easier: the party that wins a plurality of votes takes the government.
The advantage of a multi-party system is that more interests can be represented in the political arena. However, a disadvantage is that governments are harder to form if no party wins a plurality.
For example, Belgium, a country with many political parties, was without government for over 500 days while the many political parties negotiated the formation of a new government.
