Why Do We Have Third Parties

In order to avoid losing voters to third parties, the two major parties are often forced to adopt positions championed by third parties. To fully comprehend why third parties exist, it is important to first be able to identify the numerous challenges they face in order to gain any sense of credibility.

Another reason for the insignificance of third parties and the reason for the two party system is the first-past-the-post (FPTP) voting system. Unfortunately for third parties, the two main parties always tend to come out with the majority even if they don’t win the popular vote. An example of the unfairness of this voting system is in 2008 the independent party of America managed to get 1 in every 5 votes but still didn’t manage to gain seats. Having said that, FPTP in theory allows for a strong stable government with a hefty majority providing they dominate congress and the legislature.

The Third Party System was a Democratic Party that was not able to maintain the alliance that was formed with the southern and western farmers once slavery became the main problem in America. The Third Party was created after a sectional dispute that was about slavery that led to the collapse of the Second Party System back in the 1850s. The Third Party divided into two with the Democrats in the South being proslavery and the Democrats in the North being antislavery. In 1860 the party selected two different presidents that represented each of the two divisions and they also found themselves having disagreements on slavery. After the death of Webster and Clay, there was a lack of leadership that was having a big impact. The Republicans, on the

First, the two-party system does not create an equal policy in society because it does not allow people to get far if they are not within either of the two parties. The idea of the winner-take-all electoral system is the hostile terrain for third parties because the odds are in favor of the bigger parties (Conray). The bigger parties over the years seem to have the upper hand within the government, and especially within the elections.

The campaign process limit third party success because only two parties dominate the modern American political process; the Democrats and Republicans. American politics operate on a two-party system, the Democrats and Republicans who dominates voting in most elections and elected offices. These two parties are associated with liberal and conservative views individually, and nearly all elected officials are allied with one of the two. The Democrats and Republicans have more funding and a bigger chance a succeeding in an election than a third party, or any party running in an election other than the major two. Another important thing is ballot access laws often mandate that candidates pay an excessive number of fees or collect a large number

The government is no longer responsive to the people but to the two larger parties that do everything in their power to control elections. In a true democratic republic election the 19 percent of the popular vote for Ross Perot in 1992 would have translated into significant electoral votes instead of into zero electoral votes. The belief of the two-party system is a major interference to the democratic aspect of the American electoral process, and it limits the power of the vote and it changes into new ideas or ideas that do not follow normal conventions. They are hardly ever adopted by the two major parties that tend to meet in the middle on many concerns. The policies in the government will change a little over time but some people would consider the two-party system as a U.S. politics to be less democratic in thought that the over-representation of major parties benefit can be seen as unfair.

Lastly, looking back at past elections, third party candidates have never won an election, because the electoral college is made up of two parties: the republican party and the democratic party. This makes it unfair for the third party candidates because it really never gives them a chance at winning an election (Michael Malice). Some people throughout the country do have strong feelings on the third party candidates, because they take ideas from both parties, to make a strong campaign in order to win the election and be the next president of the United States. They have good intentions and potential, and it is never able to be used because the electors in the Electoral College have different beliefs. Along with that, a change in the presidency

Political parties are formed when voters have different ideology regarding government, economics, and politics. The Second Party System emerged after the Democratic and Whig parties came to power in America. The development of this party system was prompted by the clashing philosophies about individual rights, government control, and land acquisition. Despite both parties being equally prevalent in America, the Democratic Party flourished and was drastically much more successful than the Whig Party at impacting the nation.

The campaign of the American third party for the American people is a testament to the problems with America's voting system where after a lot of time it does not matter what happens there will be only two parties where if the candidates want to win they must pedal to the centralists as much as possible. As CGP Grey states, "the ." In this essay, I will explain what third parties we have had in America and their successes and failures along with what we will need to do in order to allow the American election system to allow third parties to survive better and make sure that the American people can truly have their favorite candidate without fear. The first time two parties were organized and ran their candidates for office was in 1796.

Furthermore, allowing third parties to run or hold legislative seats is said by the author to result in a greater level of political participation and involvement. “A multiparty PR system would not only make our party system and legislatures more representative, it would also help to revitalize public interest in elections” (Amy, 108). The multi party system described by the author seems a bit far fetched in America’s standing, being that even candidates running in major parties face difficulties in raising support and winning over elections. However, this reform would definitely revolutionize the way that politics are perceived in the U.S by voters as well as by running candidates. It is merely impossible to deal with the concerns and interests all of citizens, but this inefficiency can be combatted by this proposed reform of distributed representation in the legislature. Perhaps by employing this system of multiparty proportional representation in the U.S will not necessarily treat all issues with the same level of eminence but it guarantees a portion of representation focused on such

The Republican Party brought attention to slavery, the Socialists to women’s suffrage, the Populist Party to child labor laws, and Ross Perot to the deficit. They have also helped laws such as the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 come into place. But sadly, major parties steal their thunder. “In most cases, the issues or ideas championed by third parties have been “stolen” by candidates of one of the two major parties.” (Mott) Third Parties often bring attention to issues normally ignored by the Major Parties. Major party candidates will then “steal” these issues, that may be the platform of the third party, causing their supporters to move to the Major Party. This can cause third parties to disappear. Other obstacles include, becoming a possible candidate and receiving government funding for campaigns. When Ralph Nader ran in 2004 he was expected to get the signatures of 1.5 million people in every state in order to appear on the ballot. Government funding for campaign are based on the percentage of votes received last election, some third parties did not run in previous elections do to lack of support or did not exist at the time. “Perhaps the most significant of the obstacles facing third party candidates is the winner take all system.” (Nwazota) In elections the candidate with the highest percentage of votes in each state receives the electoral votes. This means that a candidate could have widespread appeal but never receive electoral votes (This is what happened to Ross Perot). From lack of support to unfair policies it may seem impossible for a third party candidate to win, surprisingly, there is a

Third parties can force the major parties to address the problems. In 1922, neither Bill Clinton nor George Bush talked much about the budget deficit until

Even though it is not written in the U.S. Constitution for the United States to have political parties, a country having a multi-political party system is good. What it is supposed to do, in its truest sense, is keep the parties honest. A one-party system was attempted in the Confederate States after they seceded from the Union and it was a disaster. In the Confederate party, there were no competing interests. Whatever was decided by the party leaders, everyone had to go along with, whether the party leaders were right or wrong. The dominance of the new political party should create a multi-party system where the different parties are forced to compete with each other on who can make America

When you think about the presidential elections in the United States of America you only hear about the two major parties which is the Republican party and the Democratic Party. But in reality there is a Major third that consist of three different parties called the Libertarian party, Green party, and Constitution party. I think the reason the third parties has such a problem in the electoral races is because of the years of experience the Green party was started in 2001 the Libertarian Party was started in 1971 and the Constitution Party was founded in 1991. The longest of the three parties was only 46 years which is nothing compared to the Democratic and Republican parties which has over 150 years they have been an official party. I would

Conflicts often are so difficult that we turn to others for help. I am currently employed at Cheniere where they have established a team called the Cultural Champion Team. The team goals are to help the entire organization develop and maintain great culture. The company has also contracted a third Party company to help and train member how to properly handle conflicts. Sometimes we have issues that are departmentally centered and those members who represent that particular department becomes so emotionally attached that we have to consult with the third party.