>>Sometimes a plurality will do it. It depends on whether you have more than 2 candiates for an office. At the federal level, it is overwhelmingly Republican and Democrat. Therefore, a majority of those who vote will do it.
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>I forgot that you are often limited to two parties, over here we have a large number & it is not unusual for some of the smaller parties to win.
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>While it does give for a larger variety of views (especially now Conservatives & New Labour are so closely aligned), it does give the anomaly that the winning party can have a significant minority of the overall vote.
>
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>>>I just ask because in the UK, all you need is the largest share of the vote. In the majority of cases people get elected with far less than the majority of votes cast in their favour, in fact the majority vote against them.
>><
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>>Sure...you have more than 2 political parties over there. I love watching C-Span when they show the House of Commons!! Lots of good debate. I like how the PM responds to each and every question - sometimes in a very spirited manner!!
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>He's very clever in that he'll answer every question, but in the final analysis it is rare that he actually says anything of any substance, though it may take a little time to realise that.
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>Slightly more entertaining than the House of Commons is the House of Lords debates - on a good day, I would highly recommend those.

Len;

From a practical viewpoint you can say that the United States has two parties. However, in fact there are many registered political parties. The problem is that their numbers are not significant to cause too much disruption of the Democrats and Republicans who hold office. We do have a few “Independent” candidates holding political office.

The "nice thing" about politicians is their universality. That is a politician can talk all day and say nothing regardless of the country of interest. :)

Tom