There is a governing crisis occuring across the globe that could not happen in the United States due to our plurality or winner take all voting rules. Italy's ruling coalition seems to have fallen apart due to a failed vote in their Senate. The Prime Minister has resigned (but may return) because the bloc of parties he cobbled together following Italy's most recent election has fallen apart. Concerns abound regardign Italy's stability.
All of this is due to the fact that Italy--as do most democracies across the world--uses proportional representation to assign its seats. People vote for parties who are then allocated seats according to the proportion of votes cast. This allows for multiple parties to run competitively (apparently 39 parties ran candidates in last year's elections) since one can cast a meaningful vote for a small party.
In the U.S this could not happen, because only the person with the most votes gets a seat--be it executive, legislative or judicial. A vote for a smaller party candidate is considered to be thrown away. The best it can do is draw support from the more prefereable of the two major candidates. The culmination of a century and a half of such elections has led to two very competitive large parties composed of coalitions of individuals that are willing to settle for second best.
It could be different, should it?
