Do you have a source for that? Coming from a country where there are 16 different parties in parliament (the Netherlands), neighboured by two countries which each have at least five parties in parliament (Belgium and Germany), I find that statement difficult to believe.

To be fair the Netherlands is a unique republic dating back so far that even Louis XIV complained that any opinion held is represented in The Hague.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/439669?seq=1

I think that's the whole point of democracy though. That our chosen representatives actually represent us. Rather than their corporate donors.

Do you have a source for that? Most of Western Europe has more than two parties in parliament, thus I find that hard to believe.

Yes this is more a "British Empire" thing. See Australia, Canada, India etc. They copied the English political system.

Yeah new Zealand dropped first past the post in the 70s and has a decidedly better political climate for it

Widely used voting systems converge on two parties. The worst offender is the first-past-the-post system. Instant-run-off voting is better, but still converges on two parties.

Wish I had a good citation for you, but I do have an try-it-yourself guide on voting systems to link to: https://ncase.me/ballot/

India has FPTP as well, where the tendency has usually been in the opposite direction - splitting parties.

Rank choice voting would definitely change that