Aug 25, 2026 · 17 min · 9 segments
This is the first episode in a series of conversations with some of Risk Advisory's senior advisers looking at the political and geopolitical questions that matter the most to businesses today…
Tim HamesGuest
Arianna IssaHost
What are some of the most commonly held misconceptions about the party outside of the US?
Well, I think that many people find it strange that Americans have a two party system of such purity when all over the democratic world we're seeing fragmentation of political parties.
But I think to understand why is the critical thing about the selection of candidates within political parties in the United States, which is done through primaries and not through party hierarchies.
And so actually, it would be supremely illogical to go through all the hassle to create a third party in the United States when it's so much easier to, in a sense, take over one of the two main parties instead.
And Donald Trump's almost hostile capture of the Republican Party back in 2015-16 illustrates that.
But in a softer, perhaps less contentious way, Barack Obama, who was in many ways a political outsider, whom the establishment did not want to be the nominee in 2008 for the Democratic Party, also took them over as well.
So I think the really important thing to understand is just how fluid American political parties are.
They are now more ideological than they used to be, broadly liberal and broadly conservative.
But within that, there's an awful lot that you can do as an individual to try and shape things in your fashion.
What are some of the most commonly held misconceptions about the party outside of the US?
Well, I think that many people find it strange that Americans have a two party system of such purity when all over the democratic world we're seeing fragmentation of political parties.
But I think to understand why is the critical thing about the selection of candidates within political parties in the United States, which is done through primaries and not through party hierarchies.
And so actually, it would be supremely illogical to go through all the hassle to create a third party in the United States when it's so much easier to, in a sense, take over one of the two main parties instead.
And Donald Trump's almost hostile capture of the Republican Party back in 2015-16 illustrates that.
But in a softer, perhaps less contentious way, Barack Obama, who was in many ways a political outsider, whom the establishment did not want to be the nominee in 2008 for the Democratic Party, also took them over as well.
So I think the really important thing to understand is just how fluid American political parties are.
They are now more ideological than they used to be, broadly liberal and broadly conservative.
But within that, there's an awful lot that you can do as an individual to try and shape things in your fashion.
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