Why both political parties attract ideological extremists? . It is the system . but it is not set up by the Constitution

Ever ask yourself why both political parties attract ideological extremists? It is the way the US system works. It is not set up by the Constitution but has developed over time and is set in sand by state and federal statutes and Supreme Court decisions. It does depend on the protections afforded by the First Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. It is unlike the parliamentary politics of Europe, where ideology is the identifying brand of political parties, and coalitions form the majority, and voters have a branded ideological menu to choose from. In the US, extremists in our representative two-party gerrymandered system have to coalesce at the primary stage and support the party with which they feel at home, or otherwise, they have no input into the system.

Neo nazis and white supremacists have found a home in MAGA. Socialists like Bernie Sanders caucus with Democrats even tho they are not the majority of the Dems. The quandary is where do libertarians and pragmatists, and those who care more about cultural, racial, religious identity, business advantages, or family affordability go who are not ideologically self-identifying or party or political leader loyal? Midterm and presidential elections are where the sorting eventually and finally takes place in one of our two parties

What is an ideological extremist, anyway? It depends on definitions and on where you sit on the political spectrum.

What is my definition of ideological extremism? Generally speaking, it is a view outside the mainstream with certain characteristics. Depending on how you search for the definition, it can mean many different things. I searched for extremism as just a common word in common usage. It can also mean someone who is way past radical. It can also depend on the eye of the beholder. Politically, some on the right like to claim that anything to the left of them is a communist, socialist, etc.(That is one I have seen posted even on a Facebook site that is supposed to not be about politics, and which prompted me to do this post.) Those on the left may claim that MAGA is a bunch of racist fascists, which may apply to some of their supporters, and a majority, I suspect, but not all.

There is one AI view that comes closest to mine, reproduced below.: By this definition, whether Democratic Socialists (those achieving a single-minded political goal using the democratic processes) are extremely probably not fully like those who want to overturn the system to get their way. Those on the right, like the memes I am seeing from MAGA, think Democratic Socialists like Sanders and Maldonado-Torres probably are extremists to them. They even have the word socialists in their party affilitation name though they also run as Democrats to get throiugh the primary system.. Democratic socialists' support of the working class permeates their rationales for public policy advocacy.. However, they advocate and work within the Democratic system as it has existed for the past 250 years in order to try to get their viewpoints heard and taken seriously. and many registered Democrats accept some part of their ideology, as witnessed by the success of Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zoran Mamdani,, who ran for office successfully under the Democratic Socialist banner. They and even some center-right independents caucus with Democrats in legislatures.

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From a left-of-center viewpoint, advocates for a "unitary' form of government, putting legislative and judicial power in the hands of one powerful executive, or advancing White Christian nationalism, while attempting to rid the country of those of a particular race, like Hispanics, are extremist and fit this definition. They virtually turn a democracy into an autocracy using de facto means. Also fitting this definition, those who constructed Project 2025 and now run much of Trump's day-to-day operation are ideological extremists in my view. (Their technique was to turn as many Congresspeople, and administrative positions, and replace justices with loyalists to Trump himself, who would turn over their power to them voluntarily, which is what has happened.

There is another kind of extremism that has to do with the methods used to advance an extremist cause. The advocates of violent overthrow, such as J6, adjudicated crimes of violence against police officers, definitely are, both by ideology and methods, extremists, fully welcomed into the GOP MAGA by Trump. So are neo Nazi's, and even Trump called them some fine people, as he invited them into the MAGA tent after Charlottesville, 2017, though at times he has condemned them, too. Neo Nazi praised Trump and even saluted him in rallies before then..

Unlike the communist dictatorships like Russia of the past, in America, membership in a political party is a matter of both voter registration and acceptance of support from party leaders, or self-identification. It does not depend on a card signifying that the bearer has passed a litmus test. It is both self-identifying, like wearing a MAGA cap, or being supported by actions and words of allegiance to whatever the leader says it is, or being branded by adversaries, fairly or unfairly.

From my search in AI for the term" ideological extremism' that comes closest to my view, with some annotations and examples of how MAGA and Trump fit into that brand..as well as meet the definition of methods extremism.

1. Ideological Extremism.

• Rejection of Democratic Norms: Holding beliefs that seek to undermine, overturn, or replace established liberal democratic systems, human rights, and freedoms.( Example: Project 2025 and the critically powerful positions of Stephen Miller, who is credited with the ICE overreach and mass deportation methods, and Russell Vought in the Trump administration, who authored the project))
• Intolerance: Advocating for rigid ideologies rooted in violence, hatred, or the negation of the fundamental rights of those who disagree. ( Example: cruel treatment and false imprisonment of a Hispanic undocumented immigrant with no criminal record, and without access to due process, and ICE killing American citizen protestors.)
• Radicalization: The escalation of a belief system that characterizes an "in-group" (e.g., a race, religion, or political faction) as superior, requiring the suppression or elimination of an "out-group. . (Example: The SAVE Act, defeated in the Senate, or Southern white state legislators gerrymandering African Americans out of the Congressional seats). Using paramilitary and cruel treatment of migrants to force them to self-deport, even if they have the legal right to remain. It appears that this is the point of the concentration camps set up by ICE (see methods of extremism below)

2. Methods Extremism

• Use of Force: While having unconventional beliefs is not illegal, an extremist crosses a line when they endorse or employ extreme measures—particularly violence, intimidation, or coercion—to realize their goals. (Example: The slush fund to reward those adjudicated as violent criminals who acted on January 6 in support ot Trump is a way to express approval and to keep them in his tent)