Third parties face many obstacles in the United States. In all states, the
Democratic and Republican candidates automatically get on the ballot, whereas
third-party candidates usually have to get thousands of signatures on petitions just
to be listed on the ballot. The state and federal governments, which make rules
governing elections, are composed of elected Democratic and Republican officials,
who have a strong incentive to protect the existing duopoly. Also, third-party
candidates often face financial difficulties because a party must have received at
least 5 percent of the vote in the previous election in order to qualify for federal
funds.
SOME IMPORTANT THIRD PARTIES
Party
|
Dates
|
Success(es)
|
Anti-Masonic Party | 1828–1832 | First party to hold a convention to nominate
candidates |
Prohibition Party | 1867–present | Has nominated a candidate for president in every election
since 1872 |
Progressive Party | 1912 | Elected a number of candidates to state legislatures,
Congress, and even the U.S. Senate. Deflected enough votes from
Republican William Howard Taft to hand the presidency to Democrat
Woodrow Wilson in 1912. |
American Independent Party | 1968–present | Won electoral votes (for George Wallace) |
Libertarian Party | 1971–present | Some members have won local elections. |
Green Party | 1984–present | Some members have won local elections. |
the Appeal of Third Parties
Third parties appeal to people for a number of reasons:
-
Ideology: People who feel strongly about a particular
issue might be drawn to a third party that focuses exclusively on that
issue.
Example: The Greenback Party focused
on the monetary system, and the Prohibition Party sought to ban the
consumption of alcohol. The Populist Party, meanwhile, grew out of the
Populist movement, and the Republican Party developed primarily out of the
abolitionist movement.
-
Dissatisfaction with the status quo: Some third parties
form when part of a major party breaks off in protest and forms a
splinter party.
Example: In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt
led a group of dissidents out of the Republican Party to form the splinter
Progressive Party.
-
Geographical location: Third parties can be closely tied
to a specific region, which can increase their appeal. Chicago’s Harold
Washington Party, for example, seeks to carry on the legacy of Harold
Washington, the city’s first African American mayor.
The Role of Third Parties
Despite their lack of success in the polls, third parties can affect
American politics in a number of ways:
-
Introduce new ideas: Third parties propose many
government policies and practices.
Example: The Populist Party
introduced ideas that influenced some economic policies of the New Deal,
whereas the Anti-Masonic Party was the first party to use a convention to
nominate its candidates, in the mid-nineteenth century.
-
Put issues on the agenda: Third parties can force the
major parties to address potentially divisive problems.
Example: In 1992, neither Bill
Clinton nor George H. W. Bush talked much about the budget deficit until
independent candidate Ross Perot emphasized it in his campaign.
-
Spoil the election: Third parties can cost one party an
election by playing the spoiler. If a third party draws enough
votes away from a major party, it can prevent that party from winning. It is
impossible to know for sure what would have happened had the third-party
candidate not run, but in some cases, it seems that the third party probably
cost one candidate the election.
Example: Some pundits argued that
Ralph Nader’s bid in the 2000 presidential election may have cost Al Gore
the presidency by siphoning away votes in key states such as
Florida.
-
Keep the major parties honest: A leftist party can
challenge the Democratic Party, for example, on social justice issues,
whereas a conservative party can pose problems for the Republican Party.
Because third-party candidates usually have little chance of winning, they
can speak more frankly than their major party rivals, addressing facts and
issues that the major parties would often prefer to ignore.