The two-party system Check out this list:  
 That's the  official list  (see this list by clicking on  official list  ) of political parties receiving votes in the 2020 presidential election.

 So don't try to tell me the U.S. has a "two-party system." 😀 Nevertheless, we know that lots of people are frustrated with politics in America today, and one common complaint is that the two-party system is at fault. While we have a lot of parties, it would be disingenuous to dismiss complaints about the two-party system, because realistically it's mostly either Republicans or Democrats who have a realistic chance to be elected. That is, of course, not always true. There are currently two U.S. senators who are neither Republican nor Democratic, Angus King, from Maine, and Bernie Sanders, from Vermont. Both of these senators caucus with the Democrats, though, and are generally reliable Democratic votes. There have been numerous third party (or "minor party") candidates who have won elections, including Jesse Ventura winning the race to be governor of Minnesota in 1998. The late Texas billionaire Ross Perot received 19% of the national vote for President of the United States in 1992.

 Still, people complaining about the two-party system worry that because of the virtual lock on politics of the two main parties, political views not represented by the two parties – Republicans and Democrats – are excluded from political discourse. Or that having only two parties limits the choices available on election day, and if neither candidate is desirable, there’s no one left to choose. But there is another view, as you’ve read. This other view is that blaming the two-party system for today’s problems is misguided. This argument says, among other things, that citizens of other countries with multi-party systems are no more satisfied with the state of their politics than Americans are with ours. We blame the two-party system, they say, because we think “the grass is always greener on the other side,” when really it’s not. It is also argued that people unhappy with the two parties think they want a "centrist" party, but when they see the policy platforms of those centrist parties they don't like them as much as they thought they would, so they end up voting for a major party candidate.

 There's also the issue that our method of elections is the reason for the two-party system. There's a general principle of political science known as  Duverger's Law. It says that in a system with  plurality (or first-past-the-post) voting (and that's a pretty good video, by the way), coupled with single member districts, a two-party system is virtually inevitable. Simply declaring "I want a third party!" is almost certainly not going to get produce one that can win. To have successful third parties will require a change in the way we vote.  This video  advocates "approval voting." "Ranked-choice voting" has alre.

1. The two-party system
Check out this list:
That's the
official list (see this list by clicking on
official list ) of political parties receiving votes in the
2020 presidential election.
So don't try to tell me the U.S. has a "two-party system." �
Nevertheless, we know that lots of people are frustrated with
politics in America today, and one common complaint is that
the two-party system is at fault. While we have a lot of parties,
it would be disingenuous to dismiss complaints about the two-
party system, because realistically it's mostly either
Republicans or Democrats who have a realistic chance to be
elected. That is, of course, not always true. There are currently
two U.S. senators who are neither Republican nor Democratic,
Angus King, from Maine, and Bernie Sanders, from Vermont.
Both of these senators caucus with the Democrats, though, and
are generally reliable Democratic votes. There have been
numerous third party (or "minor party") candidates who have
won elections, including Jesse Ventura winning the race to be
governor of Minnesota in 1998. The late Texas billionaire Ross
Perot received 19% of the national vote for President of the
United States in 1992.
Still, people complaining about the two-party system worry that
because of the virtual lock on politics of the two main parties,
political views not represented by the two parties – Republicans
and Democrats – are excluded from political discourse. Or that
having only two parties limits the choices available on election
day, and if neither candidate is desirable, there’s no one left to

2. choose.
But there is another view, as you’ve read. This other view is
that blaming the two-party system for today’s problems is
misguided. This argument says, among other things, that
citizens of other countries with multi-party systems are no more
satisfied with the state of their politics than Americans are with
ours. We blame the two-party system, they say, because we
think “the grass is always greener on the other side,” when
really it’s not. It is also argued that people unhappy with the
two parties think they want a "centrist" party, but when they see
the policy platforms of those centrist parties they don't like
them as much as they thought they would, so they end up voting
for a major party candidate.
There's also the issue that our method of elections is the reason
for the two-party system. There's a general principle of political
science known as
Duverger's Law. It says that in a system with
plurality (or first-past-the-post) voting (and that's a
pretty good video, by the way), coupled with single member
districts, a two-party system is virtually inevitable. Simply
declaring "I want a third party!" is almost certainly not going to
get produce one that can win. To have successful third parties
will require a change in the way we vote.
This video advocates "approval voting." "Ranked-
choice voting" has already been adopted in numerous
jurisdictions in the U.S., and could provide a way for third
parties to start gaining influence. Since I'm linking to YouTube
videos, here's one more that talks about Duverger's Law, but
goes into an extended discussion of "
ingroup/outgroup" psychology in a way that relates to
the dominance of our two main parties.
Given what you’ve read, what do you think about the two-party
system? Should we do something to change it? If so, what?

3. Remember you need to make your post at least 250 words.
image1.jpeg
Grader - Instructions Excel 2022
ProjectExp22_Excel_Ch11_HOE_Halloween
Project Description:
Halloween Center is a supercenter corporation that opens stores
around the country in September and October. The stores sell
high-quality costumes and accessories. In addition, each
location has a haunted house that generates revenue through
admissions fees. You are the regional manager over Utah,
Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona, where stores are located
in 10 major cities.
You created a workbook with three worksheets. The first two
worksheets contain lists of store and state managers. Your first
task will be to manipulate the text to make the lists easier to
read. The third worksheet contains a list of gross sales by store
at the end of each week. You will use advanced filtering and
database functions to analyze the sales. The fourth worksheet
contains a similar dataset. You will use array functions to create
a unique list of locations, a list of record numbers, sorted and
filtered data, and a sequence of the top values. Finally, the last
worksheet contains a consolidated list of the weekly sales in an
easy-to-read format. You will use lookup functions to search for
and find data within the dataset
Steps to Perform:
Step
Instructions
Points Possible
1
Start Excel. Download and open the file named
Exp22_Excel_Ch11_HOE_Halloween.xlsx.

4. Grader has automatically added your last name to the beginning
of the filename.
0
2
The first column contains first and last names of the store
managers. To facilitate future sorting by last name, you want to
display last names and then first names in the second column.
In cell B2 in the Store Managers worksheet, type
Lundgren, Gusten. Use Flash Fill to complete
the pattern down column B.
3
3
The worksheet contains the complete addresses in the third
column. You will separate the street addresses, cities, states,
and postal codes into individual columns.
Select the range C2:C11 and convert the text to columns. Use
the comma check box as the delimiter and deselect other
delimiters. Change width of column C to
25 and the width of column D to
13.
3
4
Now you want to separate the state abbreviations and zip codes.
Select the range E2:E11 and convert the text to columns.
Deselect the comma delimiter and select the space delimiter. Do
not import the first column. In cell F1, apply Align Right
horizontal alignment.
4

5. 5
The State Managers worksheet contains a list of managers. You
will combine the names using the TEXTJOIN function.
Display the State Managers worksheet. In cell D2, insert the
TEXTJOIN function to combine the names in the range A2:C2
using a space as a delimiter and ignore empty cells. Copy the
function to the range D3:D5.
4
6
To improve the readability of the names, you will convert the
text to upper- and lowercase.
In cell E2, insert the PROPER function for the text contained in
cell D2. Copy the function to the range E3:E5.
3
7
You want to extract the area code from the phone number.
In cell H2, insert the LEFT function to extract the first three
characters from the phone number in cell G2. Copy the function
to the range H3:H5.
4
8
You will use the Database worksheet for the next several steps.
You will set up criteria and output ranges, enter the criteria, and
then apply the filter.
Display the Database worksheet. Copy the range A2:E2 and Use
the Keep Source Column Widths paste option to paste the
headings in cell G2. Paste another copy of the headings starting
in cell G9. In cell I3, type
UT, In cell J3, type
11/2/2024. In cell C2, display the Advanced
Filter dialog box. Apply the settings to copy the records to
another location, using the dataset in range A2:E52. Select the

6. range G2:K3 as the the criteria range and select the range
G9:K9 as the copy-to range.
8
9
You want to calculate total sales for the Utah stores for the
week ending 11/2/2024.
In cell N2, insert the DSUM function for the range A2:E52.
Type
Gross Sales for the field and use the range
G2:K3 as the criteria.
3
10
Next, you want to calculate the average sales for the Utah stores
for the week ending 11/2/2024.
In cell N3, insert the DAVERAGE function using the same
arguments that you used for the DSUM function in Step 9.
3
11
The next function will identify the highest gross sales for the
Utah stores for the week ending 11/2/2024.
In cell N4, insert the DMAX function using the same arguments
that you used for the DSUM function in Step 9.
3
12
Next, you will identify the lowest gross sales for the Utah stores
for the week ending 11/2/2024.
In cell N5, insert the DMIN function using the same arguments
that you used for the DSUM function in Step 9.
3
13

7. You want to count the records to ensure all three stores are
being included in the summary.
In cell N6, insert the DCOUNT function using the same
arguments that you used for the DSUM function in Step 9.
3
14
Finally, you want to display the gross sales for Salt Lake City
for the week ending 10/5/2024.
In cell O9, insert the DGET function for the database. Type
Gross Sales for the field and use the range
M8:M9 as the criteria. In cell N9, type
10/5/2024.
3
15
For the next several tasks, you will use the Arrays worksheet.
You want to create a list of all store locations so that you can
familiarize yourself with the local demographics and analyze
sales data.
Display the Arrays worksheet. In cell H3, insert the UNIQUE
function for the array located in the range C3:D53. In cell H16,
insert the UNIQUE function using the range C3:D53 as the
array and ensure the results reflect only locations that occur
exactly once.
6
16
Your next step is to add a record number for each row.
In cell A3, insert the ROW function using the range A3:A53 as
the reference. The result should subtract the result of another
ROW function that references A$2.
4
17

8. Now you want to identify the number of rows in the dataset.
In cell F1, insert the ROWS function using the range F3:F53 as
the reference.
3
18
You want to create an array of the dataset sorted by city within
their respective states.
In cell K3, insert the SORT function to sort the range B3:F53 by
the second column. Edit the function by nesting this SORT
function as the array within another SORT function. For the
outer SORT function, sort by the third column.
4
19
You will use the results from the SORT function to create an
array that is filtered to display data for only UT and CO.
In cell Q3, type
CO. In cell R3, type
UT. In cell Q7, insert the FILTER function
using the range K3:O53. Include the range M3:M53 when it
equals the state abbreviation in cell Q3 or in cell R3. In cell Q3,
type
TX. In cell R3 type
NY. Edit the FILTER function in cell Q7 by
displaying the text
Invalid Criteria in the criteria are not met. In
cell Q3, type
CO. In cell R3, type
UT.
6
20
The next task is to display an array of the top three sales values

9. within the filtered array.
In cell U2, insert the LARGE function for the range U7:U60 and
nest a SEQUENCE function as the K argument to return three
values.
4
21
The results of the LARGE function should be formatted.
Apply Accounting Number Format with zero decimal places to
the range U2:U4.
1
22
For the rest of the tasks, you will use the Lookup worksheet.
Your first task is to identify the positions for cells containing a
specific store number and a specific date.
Display the Lookup worksheet. In cell D2, insert the XMATCH
function to look up the store number in cell B2, compare it to
the range A7:A16. In cell D3, insert the XMATCH function to
lookup the date in cell B3, compare it to the range C6:G6. In
cell B2, type
215. In cell B3, type
10/26/2024.
6
23
You will nest an XMATCH function within an INDEX function
to retrieve the sales for the week based on the position of the
store number and date.
In cell G2, insert the INDEX function for the range C7:G16.
Nest an XMATCH function that looks up the store number in
cell B2, compares it to the range A7:A16 to identify the
position of the store number. Nest an XMATCH function that

10. lookups up the date in cell B3, compares it to the range C6:G6
to return the position of the date.
4
24
Next, you will use the ADDRESS function to identify the cell
address for the sales returned by the INDEX function you
previously inserted.
In cell G3, insert the ADDRESS function. Add the result of D3
to the result of a ROW function for cell A6 to return the row.
Add the result of D3 to the result of the COLUMN function for
cell B6 to return the column. Enter the appropriate code in the
Abs argument to display a relative cell address.
4
25
You are ready to assign range names to the city data so that you
can then use the range names in a function.
Select the range B7:G16 and create range names from the
selection. Use the left column to create the range names. In cell
I7, paste a list of the range names.
Mac users: Use the Insert menu, select Name, and then select
the submenu options to paste a list of range names.
4
26
You are ready to use the range names in an INDIRECT function
to retrieve data.
In cell G4, insert a SUM function with a nested INDIRECT
function. Within the nested INDIRECT function that refers to
cell B4. In cell B2, type
440. In cell B10, type
Las_Cruces. In cell B15, type
Salt_Lake_City.

11. 4
27
Your final task is to document the formulas.
In cell J2, insert the FORMULATEXT function for cell D2.
Copy the function to cell J3. In cell J4, insert the
FORMULATEXT function for cell G2. Copy the function to the
range J5:J6.
3
28
Save and close
Exp22_Excel_Ch11_ HOE_Halloween.xlsx.
Exit Excel. Submit the file as directed.
0
Total Points
100
Created On: 08/11/2022 1 Exp22_Excel_Ch11_HOE -
Halloween Center 1.0