two party system?

Question 1

evidence there’s a 2 party system:

Answer 1

-FPTP disproportionately advantages the two main parties
-since 1853 there hasn’t been a president that’s not a republican or a democrat
-independents often align with one of the two main parties anyway
-third parties lack a lengthy pedigree e.g. green party only emerged in 1980s
-in 2017 49/50 governors were from one of the two main parties
-ballot access laws mean the party must have achieved at least 5% of the popular vote in the previous election to get on the ballot paper and claim federal funding - means personal wealth is required as an independent

Question 2

significance of Ross Perot:

Answer 2

in 1992 he split the republican vote which led to the democrats winning
-in some opinion polls he was polling 39% support, which was higher than clinton or bush