Despite being the constant underdog and loser in major elections third parties make some significant contribution to the political spectrum in the United States. Third Party Agendas are taken serious by the Democratic and Republican Parties and specific pieces of the Third Party Agendas are sometimes adopted by the two major parties. Third parties give discontented voters other alternatives. The Republican and Democratic Parties have been known to operate in similar styles and third parties give the voter the opportunity to express their discontent. The third parties in the United States are policy advocates and often are more specific about were they stand ideologically. Often the Republican and Democratic Parties try and take a moderate approach to political issues, and third parties are more conservative or liberal when it comes to political issues. Also, third parties tend to do exactly the opposite when their agenda concerns social issues. Then there is thespoiler factor? a Third Party Candidate can collect enough votes to change the outcome of a Presidential Election. .
In the United States political scientist and other scholars have placed third parties into four specific categories with various political functions. First, third parties are sometimes created to address sectional issues. Meaning a geographical area has a political or social issue or issues that are not being satisfied by the two major parties. Sectional Parties are often created and used to express the rights of particular states in America. One of the best examples of a sectional party was the Dixiecrat party of the south. The party was formed in southern states over the issue of Civil Rights and integration in the Unites States. Secondly, historically third parties have been formed to address single issues. In the United States these issues have included things such as slavery, prohibition, agricultural concerns, and other social issues.
Lack of Third Party Success There seems to be more new political parties with each passing election. ... There are many newly formed political third parties. ... This party created a lot of buzz about third party politics. ... Thus the third party in this election served in the role of spoiler for the Republican Party candidate. ... However, many people like the ideal of third parties. ...
This is how the third party came of interest to the sheeple. The type of third party that will last the longest is the ideological third party. The Libertarian party is the biggest third party and probably the best one. ... Another type of third party is a splinter, which is more or less a break off from a major party. ... The third party usually will not win but they can cause a major party to lose. ...
Question What is the impact of third parties? ... But where do third parties stand with in this predominantly two party government? ... The two major parties require less signatures relatively speaking, whereas the third party needs many more. ... In turn this allows for a broader acceptance by the third parties and their ideas. ... Third parties have been known to influence or sway the outcome of elections. ...
The Path to Reform: Third Party Constraints and the Barriers to Third Party Success - A Critical Review I. ... The Co-Option of Third Party Agendas .20-22 X. ... Are the structural barriers for third party candidates created by the two-party political system removable? ... Rosenstone et al. divide the difficulties facing third parties into three categories: first, "barriers,"" such as constitutional and legal boundaries, second, "handicaps,"" such as few resources, and third, "major party strategies."" ... Riker said that Duverger's Law needs to be modified to exem...
Since the last of the Whig party left office in 1852, the American political system has been primarily a two party system. ... His party nearly abandoned him for choosing the people over his party. ... However, in the early days of our country, third and fourth party candidates played important roles in politics. ... Many other lesser known or hardly known at all parties were the: Socialists, Unionists, Farmer-Laborists, Progressives, Communists, States' Rights, American Independents, Libertarians, New Alliance, Populists, Consumers, National Economic Recovery, Right to Li...
The Libertarian Party is America's largest and most successful third party. ... The Libertarian party ran more than one thousand four hundred and thirty candidates for the 2000 elections, which was more than twice as many as all other third parties combined. ... This was the first time in eighty years that any third party has contested a majority of the seats in Congress. The Libertarian party has built a successful third party from the ground up. I don't believe I would ever consider being a member of this party because I would get frustrated with all of the barriers set o...
Other parties that exist but, are not very familiar are the Whig Party, Libertarian Party, Socialist Worker Party, Communist Party of the United States of America, National Hamiltonian Party, National Prohibition Party, Peace and Freedom Party, and the Know-Nothing Party. ... Because of that, third parties and independent candidates have rarely had much competitive success at the national or even the state level. ... The party of Jackson is today's Democratic Party. ... Breckenridge was the Southern Democrats candidate, Douglas was the Northern Democrats candidate, Abraham Lincoln was t...
Party Unity Candidate reliance on national party organizational support has been waning for a couple of decades now. ... The splintering of the party message into liberal, moderate, or conservative has essentially divided parties so much that there is almost more opposition within a party than there is with the rest of the party community. ... A majority of the citizens in this country easily overwhelm Republicans and third party members but can never seem to get the vote out or encourage much party loyalty which, besides the issue of Civil Rights, seems to have lost Democrats the Deep S...
They realize that their chances of winning an election under an independent or third party label are small. ... Hence, the American system of government tends to work against third parties. ... A third factor impeding the success of third parties is that the two major parties have the ability to maintain electoral rules that discriminate against third parties and make it difficult for them to ever win an election. ... Additionally, the winner-take-all logic makes it tremendously hard for a third party candidate to get even one of the states" electoral votes for a presidential candidate. ...
