Political parties are always coalitions of different tendencies, philosophies and opinions. This is especially true in the United States. For most of its history, and for all practical purposes, America has had a bipartisan political system. At the time of the last presidential election, there were 245.5 million Americans ages 18 and older. There are more than two political ways of thinking in America today, but we just have two political parties with a real shot at winning a presidential election.