The ‘Six Party System Hypothesis’

Monday, October 31, 2022 - 1:00pm
CST
Carl Davidson

The ‘Six Party System Hypothesis’ by Carl Davidson arose from a problem. The author is a longtime analyst and commentator on US political affairs, and he found it increasingly difficult to gain clarity of US politics simply by using the ‘two-party system’ framework. It caused more problems than it solved. So he set it aside, and developed a new framework which made sense of US politics, at least at the national level, by posited six distinct blocs operating under the tents of the two parties. The author grants that these may be called factions or blocs, not true parties. He concedes the point, but notes the two US parties don’t fit a classic definition of ‘party’ having a definitive platform and discipline either. In any case, he offers a views of the colluding and contending six party/factions, their platforms, composition, financing, military and media—each making them distinct. Finally, the author notes a dialectic approach is required. The terrain is constantly changing, so he updates the hypothesis every two years or so. The current version is 5.0

Carl Davidson is a veteran socialist advocate and writer. He was a leader of the 1960s New Left, as well as a participant in several efforts to build a new left party. He wrote and edited for the US Guardian for eight years, and also wrote for The Call and Unity newspapers, as well as many op-eds and reviews in the mainstream press and hundreds of lectures. He founded the Online University of the Left as a left unity project for the radical education of a new generation. He works with the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism, Liberation Road, DSA, and Leftroots. He is also an active Bernie Sanders supporter in the Progressive Democrats of America, and a member of the United Steel Workers Local 4657 for retirees who are community actives. He resides in his birthplace: Aliquippa, PA, in Beaver County, near Pittsburgh.

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Monday, October 20, 2025 - 1:30pm
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La Biblioteca, Teatro Santa Ana, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende

Co-founders of the Mexico Solidarity Project, Bruce Hobson and Meizhu Lui will speak on why North American progressives should understand why Mexico is critical to advancing a vision of socialism and multiracial democracy in the United States.

 

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 - 12:00pm
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Organized by The Reentry Resource Program

You are invited to join a discussion with filmmaker Santiago Esteinou and Cesar Fierro about the new documentaryThe Freedom of Fierro.

César Fierro has just become a free man, and he needs to rebuild his life after being wrongly sentenced to death in Texas. César spent 40 years in prison before being released... Read more

Monday, November 3, 2025 - 1:30pm
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Joe Belden
Location:
La Biblioteca, Sala Quezal, Insurgentes 25, Centro, San Miguel de Allende
This mostly forgotten war led to Mexico losing over half its territory and the United States expanding to the Pacific. The lecture examines the political and economic background of the conflict, what led to it, and the roles of such factors as Texas annexation in 1845, slavery, racism, the Democratic and Whig parties, and Manifest... Read more