Recognizing a third party does little with the spoiler effect. Not sure if you are referring to this in your final sentence, but the voting system has to change first to some sort of runoff model so people can express their primary choice without fear of the spoiler.

The spoiler effect is a problem for tribal voters and for politicians but I don't think it matters for the actual outcomes of laws passed. If a minor party steals votes from a major one, that major party has an incentive to win them back by offering those voters what they want.

The spoiler effect is basically a non-issue with ranked choice voting. Some states are already adopting ranked choice.

Nice comment but I think this is a bit wide of the mark. Schools are a state and local issue in the US where party is less significant. Look at the difference between a "republican" in, say, California's central valley vs. the same in Alabama. In most other places, that'd be two different parties.

Though I agree we'd be better off with something more like Germany or the UK, with coalitions.

The issue is not that we need n+1 political parties. Its that people don’t have time or much motivation to read actual policy.