The Largest of the Five Third Parties America currently has five nationally organized third parties: Reform, Libertarian, Green, Constitution (U.S. Taxpayers), and Natural Law. Each of these five parties has received 100,000 votes for at least one of its candidates in the past 20 years. No other currently existing third party in America has done so. Which of the five is the biggest and strongest is difficult to say. The Reform Party can claim dominance in a few recent elections. In the 1996 Presidential campaign, Ross Perot spent more money and received more votes (8.39%) than all other third party candidates combined. The vote totals were: Reform (Ross Perot) 8,085,403, Green (Ralph Nader) 685,128, Libertarian (Harry Browne) 485,798, U.S. Taxpayers (Howard Phillips) 182,820, and Natural Law (John Hagelin) 113,671. The Reform Party is the only third party to currently have an elected governor (Jesse Ventura in Minnesota). In 1998 it became the first third party since 1914 to receive more than one million votes for all of its gubernatorial candidates combined. (Over half of those votes were for Jesse Ventura.) The Libertarian Party, founded in 1971, is the oldest of the five nationally organized third parties. The US Taxpayers Party was formed in 1990, Natural Law in 1992, and Reform in 1995. The Greens began organizing nationally in 1984 with the formation of the Green Committees of Correspondence. This organization was replaced by the Green Party USA in 1991, but it never had the support of many state Green Parties. A new organization, the Association of State Green Parties, formed in 1996, has the support of 23 state parties, and is currently in the process of trying to form a national party. There have been many different third parties in American history, but most disappeared relatively quickly. The Libertarian Party is one of only six third parties in U.S. history to have lasted 25 years. If history is any indication, most of today’s third parties will probably not be around in another 10 or 20 years. One factor that increases the chance of long-term survival for a third party is not relying too heavily on any one individual. The Libertarian Party is the only one of the five parties to have run more than one person for President, and they have run a different candidate in each of the past 7 Presidential elections.
In recent history no 3rd party candidates have come anywhere close to getting a substantial number of votes in the presidential elections. The last time a minor party was able to win a presidential election, was with Abraham Lincoln, in 1860. He was not truly campaigning under a minor party either; the Republican Party which he ran for had recently gained control of the congress and was becoming well established in the federal government. This is a key issue that 3rd parties must understand before they consider putting up a candidate for president.
In the 1790s, soon after the ratification of the Constitution, political parties were nonexistent in the USA because President Washington feared they would drive the country apart. However, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, with their rivalling mental models, could not help but spark the division of the United States into the Democratic-Republican and Federalist parties. These parties, the Democratic-Republican wanting a small, local government system and the Federalist wanting a strong, powerful government system, turned citizens against one another and eventually led to the inimical Democratic and Republican parties of today. Hence, the formation of the original political parties in the United States is very significant. Political
The breakdown of the second party system was also a reason for the outbreak of the Civil War. In the early 1850’s the Whig party disintegrated, the second party system collapsed and the Republican Party emerged to challenge the Democrats. Southern Revisionists have argued that the collapse of the Union had been preceded by the collapse of the 2nd party system and that the Whig disappeared only to re-emerge as the new Republican party in 1854 supported by nativist Know-Nothing votes. They have also argued that politicians created this tension on purpose to advance their careers, but by doing so they made the 2nd party system collapse. However recent historians, such as Hugh Tulloch, contradict this view by arguing that there is no one single
In the United States there are only two main political parties to choose from. The two main parties are the Democrats and the Republicans. There are also many other political parties to choose from which are called third parties. Third parties may include political parties such as the Socialist Equality Party and the Peace and Equality party. People can choose to be a part of any party they want but most go with the common two main parties the Democrats and Republicans. Democrats and Republicans have many similarities and differences. These mainly occur in international, social, economic, and domestic issues.
The Populist Party, although short lived, was one of the most successful third party movements in American history. Though the party itself is no longer existent, many of the party’s ideas and goals lead to legislation after their demise.
Political parties, like interest groups, are organized groups that effort to influence the government by electing their associates to important government offices. The first party system appeared in the 1970s and pitted the federalist beside the Jeffersonian Republican. Over the years, the federalists progressively weakened and disappeared altogether after the pro-British sympathies of some Federalist leaders for the duration of the War of 1812 led to charges of betrayal against the party. From the collapse of the federalist until 1830s, American had only one political party, the Jeffersonian Republicans, who gradually came to be known as the Democrats. There was strong factional conflict within the Democratic Party, principally between the
Political parties have been around since almost the beginning of this great country. Although George Washington strongly opposed political parties, and also warned the nation to stay away from forming political parties, the first political parties were formed right under his own nose. In George Washington’s cabinet was where the first parties started. The cause of these parties was simply differences in views. The thought of leaders of these two completely different parties was Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson started what then was known of as Republican or the Anti-Federalist. On the other hand Hamilton started what was known of as the Federalist Party. Both of these parties formed in the seventeen hundreds. These two parties have evolved into today being known as the Democratic, and the Republican parties. On the contrary one of the largest third party groups, the tea party was formed just recently in the year two thousand and nine. All three of these political parties effect our government today.
The name of the party is The National Freedom Party. The name of the new party captures the essence of the American spirit built upon the pillars of civil rights and liberties for all the Americans as enshrined in the American constitution. Since independence, the freedom of the people has been the starting point and the finishing point when formulating national policies. America has participated in global wars, experienced a bloody civil war all in the name of freedom. However, with so many changes within the society both locally and abroad, the government and individuals have curtailed simple freedoms such as the right to expression, right to live and right to privacy. This party answers to the call of a nation to restore democracy and the
The Constitution Party is the 5th largest party in the nation, and is one of only five parties nationally recognized by the FEC. It was founded in 1992 as the US TaxPayer Party by Howard Phillips, among other pro-life Constitutionalists.
For example, the Greenback Party of the 1870’s which represented farmers had more appeal and offered stiffer opposition to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party did. Another third party was the Populist Party of the 1890’s which represented not only farmers but also a variety of laborers, African Americans, and also sharecroppers. The Populist Party was the biggest opposition to the Democratic Party in Texas. The candidate for Governor representing the Populist Party won 44.3% of the vote in 1896.
The two party system has encouraged the idea that voting for anyone who is not ‘blue’ or ‘red’ is a wasted vote. This can be seen in the lack of votes that 3rd party candidates are getting, for example in 2012 between the three third party candidates there was a total of 1,570,767 votes.(IVN) This could be because only a little more than half of the voting age population actually voted. (GMU) Or it could be to the lack of media coverage that they get. Third party candidates, or any candidate for that matter need to get at least 5% of the vote in a general election to get equal ballot access and federal funding like the two big parties. Another reason this idea of a wasted vote comes through is because no one knows what these other parties stand for they just hear what people on CNN, MSNBC, or Fox News say about them. For instance the libertarian party has been deemed nothing more than a bunch of pot smoking hippies just because they want to legalize marijuana. The big media outlets don’t look at the party as a whole and find one unpopular opinion they have and bash it into the skulls of their viewers as the truth.
Third parties have raised awareness for issues that the major parties have failed to bring attention to. For example, Prohibition was brought up by the Prohibition Party. Their whole goal was to prohibit the distribution and consumption of alcohol. They went to the convention in Chicago and had 20 delegates present. At first they didn’t have enough support but soon they got support on their main goal from small towns and churches. The 18th Amendment didn’t last for long but the third party got their issue noticed (The Prohibition Party, 2015). Another successful third party was the Reform Party, they nominated Ross Perot for candidate to run for president. This billionaire raised awareness for the issue of the federal budget deficit. He wanted to work on getting it reduced if he got into office. Although, this did not happen people were now worried about lowering the federal budget deficit. Bill Clinton got into office and he started addressing the federal budget deficit (Nwazota, 2004). Third parties may not have ever got into office but the do have influence on the nation’s
Although it’s always been one or the other, but the party with the most money and support from younger generations will win. With that being said, the younger generation are more open than the older generations. But the Republican Party seems to get more donations from big business. The Democratic Party takes large donations but at lower rate than the Republicans. Although both parties “can accept unlimited donations unlike their federal counterparts, the organizations have to document who gave, and how much, and when. Organizations that give just list an address; individuals have to identify their employer”. (ttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/07/16/the-massive-difference-in-how-democrats-and-republicans-raise-money/)
In the middle of most social problems in America, one thing will stand at the center of attention; our President. In 2008, the campaign slogan for the Obama administration was “Change We Can Believe In.” Now with the recent mid-term elections, it seems like America is still looking for change we can believe in. Considering the last four presidents have switched between Republican and Democrat, maybe the change isn’t going to another big party but a third party for president. The most popular third parties we have seen are the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution parties. While there have been some glimpses of success for those parties, third parties have a hard time getting off the ground. The major issues they face are a lack of funding for
Europe than in the U.S. - there is an American Greens party - which had