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Third party (United States)

January 26, 2023

Third party is a term used in the United States for American political parties other than the two dominant parties, currently the Republican and Democratic Parties. Sometimes the phrase "minor party" is used instead of third party.

Third parties are most often encountered when they nominate presidential candidates. No third-party candidate has won the presidency since the Republican Party became a major party in the mid-19th century. Since that time, only in five elections (1892, 1912, 1924, 1948, and 1968) has a third-party candidate carried any states, and only in one of them (1912) did that candidate come out in second place nationally or electorally.

Current U.S. third parties

Main article: List of political parties in the United States
This list does not include political organizations that do not run candidates for office but otherwise function similarly to third parties. For non-electoral political "parties", see here.
 
Currently, the Libertarian and Green Parties are the largest in the U.S. after the Republican and Democratic Parties. Shown here are signs of their 2016 campaigns, respectively.

Largest (voter registration over 100,000)

Smaller parties by ideology

This section includes only parties that have actually run candidates under their name in recent years.

Right-wing

This section includes any party that advocates positions associated with American conservatism, including both Old Right and New Right ideologies.

State-only parties

Centrist

This section includes any party that is independent, populist, or any other that either rejects left–right politics or doesn't have a party platform.

State-only parties

Left-wing

This section includes any party that has a left-liberal, progressive, social democratic, democratic socialist, or Marxist platform.

State-only parties

Ethnic nationalism

This section includes parties that primarily advocate for granting special privileges or consideration to members of a certain race, ethnic group, religion etc.

Also included in this category are various parties found in and confined to Native American reservations, almost all of which are solely devoted to the furthering of the tribes to which the reservations were assigned. An example of a particularly powerful tribal nationalist party is the Seneca Party that operates on the Seneca Nation of New York's reservations.[1]

Secessionist parties

This section includes parties that primarily advocate for Independence from the United States. (Specific party platforms may range from left wing to right wing).

Single-issue/protest-oriented

This section includes parties that primarily advocate single-issue politics (though they may have a more detailed platform) or may seek to attract protest votes rather than to mount serious political campaigns or advocacy.

State-only parties

Notable elections

Main article: List of third party and independent performances in United States elections
Main article: List of third-party performances in United States presidential elections

A number of third party, independent, and write-in candidates have performed well in many U.S. elections.[2]

Greens, Libertarians, and others have elected state legislators and local officials. The Socialist Party elected hundreds of local officials in 169 cities in 33 states by 1912, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin; New Haven, Connecticut; Reading, Pennsylvania; and Schenectady, New York.[3] There have been 20th century governors elected as independents, and from such parties as Progressive, Reform, Farmer-Labor, Populist, and Prohibition. There were others in the 19th century. However, the United States has had a two-party system for over a century. The winner take all system for presidential elections and the single-seat plurality voting system for Congressional elections have over time created the two-party system (see Duverger's law).

Third-party candidates sometimes win elections. For example, such a candidate has won a U.S. Senate election twice (0.6%) since 1990. Sometimes a national officeholder not affiliated with and endorsed by one of the two major parties is elected. Previously, Senator Lisa Murkowski won re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate and not as the Republican nominee, and Senator Joe Lieberman ran and won as a third-party candidate in 2006 after leaving the Democratic Party.[4][5] Currently, there are only two U.S. Senators, Angus King and Bernie Sanders, who are neither Democratic nor Republican, while former Representative Justin Amash has joined the Libertarian Party as of April 28, 2020.[6] Although third- party candidates rarely actually win elections, they can have an effect on them. If they do well, then they are often accused of having a spoiler effect. Sometimes, they have won votes in the electoral college, as in the 1832 Presidential election. They can draw attention to issues that may be ignored by the majority parties. If such an issue finds acceptance with the voters, one or more of the major parties may adopt the issue into its own party platform. Also, a third party may be used by the voter to cast a protest vote as a form of referendum on an important issue. Third parties may also help voter turnout by bringing more people to the polls. Third-party candidates at the top of the ticket can help to draw attention to other party candidates down the ballot, helping them to win local or state office. In 2004, the U.S. electorate consisted of an estimated 43% registered Democrats and 33% registered Republicans, with independents and those belonging to other parties constituting 25%.[7]

The only three U.S. Presidents without a major party affiliation were George Washington, John Tyler, and Andrew Johnson, and only Washington served his entire tenure as an independent. Neither of the other two were ever elected president in their own right, both being vice presidents who ascended to office upon the death of the president, and both became independents because they were unpopular with their parties. John Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket in 1840 with William Henry Harrison, but was expelled by his own party. Johnson was the running mate for Abraham Lincoln, who was reelected on the National Union ticket in 1864; it was a temporary name for the Republican Party.

Bill Walker of Alaska was, from 2014 to 2018, the only independent governor in the United States. He was also the first independent governor since Alaska became a state (although not the first third-party governor). In 1998, wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota on the Reform Party ticket.[8]

As of 2021, the only independent U.S. senators are Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine; both senators caucus with the Democratic Party. No current members of the House of Representatives is a member of a third party. Former representative Justin Amash of Michigan, originally elected as a Republican, joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020 after having left the Republican Party in July 2019, and is the most recent member of a third party in the House. He did not seek re-election in 2020.

Barriers to third party success

 

Winner-take-all vs. proportional representation

In winner-take-all (or plurality-take-all), the candidate with the largest number of votes wins, even if the margin of victory is extremely narrow or the proportion of votes received is not a majority. Unlike in proportional representation, runners-up do not gain representation in a first-past-the-post system. In the United States, systems of proportional representation are uncommon, especially above the local level and are entirely absent at the national level (even though states like Maine have introduced systems like ranked choice voting, which ensures that the voice of third party voters is heard in case none of the candidates receives a majority of preferences).[9] In Presidential elections, the majority requirement of the Electoral College, and the Constitutional provision for the House of Representatives to decide the election if no candidate receives a majority, serves as a further disincentive to third party candidacies.

In the United States, if an interest group is at odds with its traditional party, it has the option of running sympathetic candidates in primaries. Candidates failing in the primary may form or join a third party. Because of the difficulties third parties face in gaining any representation, third parties tend to exist to promote a specific issue or personality. Often, the intent is to force national public attention on such an issue. Then, one or both of the major parties may rise to commit for or against the matter at hand, or at least weigh in. H. Ross Perot eventually founded a third party, the Reform Party, to support his 1996 campaign. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt made a spirited run for the presidency on the Progressive Party ticket, but he never made any efforts to help Progressive congressional candidates in 1914, and in the 1916 election, he supported the Republicans.

Ballot access laws

Nationally, ballot access laws are the major challenge to third party candidacies. While the Democratic and Republican parties usually easily obtain ballot access in all fifty states in every election, third parties often fail to meet criteria for ballot access, such as registration fees. Or, in many states, they do not meet petition requirements in which a certain number of voters must sign a petition for a third party or independent candidate to gain ballot access.[10] In recent presidential elections, Ross Perot appeared on all 50 state ballots as an independent in 1992 and the candidate of the Reform Party in 1996. (Perot, a billionaire, was able to provide significant funds for his campaigns.) Patrick Buchanan appeared on all 50 state ballots in the 2000 election,[11] largely on the basis of Perot's performance as the Reform Party's candidate four years prior. The Libertarian Party has appeared on the ballot in at least 46 states in every election since 1980, except for 1984 when David Bergland gained access in only 36 states. In 1980, 1992, 1996, 2016, and 2020 the party made the ballot in all 50 states and D.C. The Green Party gained access to 44 state ballots in 2000 but only 27 in 2004. The Constitution Party appeared on 42 state ballots in 2004.[12] Ralph Nader, running as an independent in 2004, appeared on 34 state ballots. In 2008, Nader appeared on 45 state ballots and the D.C. ballot. For more information see ballot access laws.

Debate rules

Presidential debates between the nominees of the two major parties first occurred in 1960, then after three cycles without debates, took place again in 1976 and have happened in every election since. Third party or independent candidates have been included in these debates in only two cycles. Ronald Reagan and John Anderson debated in 1980, but incumbent President Carter refused to appear with Anderson, and Anderson was excluded from the subsequent debate between Reagan and Carter.

Debates in other state and federal elections often exclude independent and third-party candidates, and the Supreme Court has upheld such tactics in several cases. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a private company. [13] Independent Ross Perot was included in all three of the debates with Republican George H. W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, largely at the behest of the Bush campaign.[citation needed] His participation helped Perot climb from 7% before the debates to 19% on Election Day.[14]

Perot was excluded from the 1996 debates despite his strong showing four years prior.[15] In 2000, revised debate access rules made it even harder for third-party candidates to gain access by stipulating that, besides being on enough state ballots to win an Electoral College majority, debate participants must clear 15% in pre-debate opinion polls. This rule remained in place for 2004,[16][17] when as many as 62 million people watched the debates,[18] and has continued being in effect as of 2008.[19][20] The 15% criterion, had it been in place, would have prevented Anderson and Perot from participating in the debates they appeared in.

Major party marginalization

A third-party candidate will sometimes strike a chord with a section of voters in a particular election, bringing an issue to national prominence and amount a significant proportion of the popular vote. Major parties often respond to this by adopting this issue in a subsequent election. After 1968, under President Nixon the Republican Party adopted a "Southern Strategy" to win the support of conservative Democrats opposed to the Civil Rights Movement and resulting legislation and to combat third parties with southern agendas. This can be seen as a response to the popularity of segregationist candidate George Wallace who gained 13.5% of the popular vote in the 1968 election for the American Independent Party.

In 1996, both the Democrats and the Republicans agreed to deficit reduction on the back of Ross Perot's popularity in the 1992 election. This severely undermined Perot's campaign in the 1996 election.

See also

References

  1. ^ Herbeck, Dan (November 15, 2011). Resentments abound in Seneca power struggle. The Buffalo News. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  2. ^ Arthur Meier Schlesinger, ed. History of US political parties (5 vol. Chelsea House Pub, 2002).
  3. ^ Nichols, John (2011). The "S" Word: A Short History of an American Tradition. Verso. p. 104. ISBN 9781844676798.
  4. ^ "Senator Lisa Murkowski wins Alaska write-in campaign". Reuters. 2010-11-18. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  5. ^ Zeller, Shawn. "Crashing the Lieberman Party - New York Times". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  6. ^ "Justin Amash Becomes the First Libertarian Member of Congress". Reason.com. 2020-04-29. Retrieved 2020-05-13.
  7. ^ Neuhart, P. (2004-01-22). "Why politics is fun from catbirds' seats". USA Today. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  8. ^ Kettle, Martin (2000-02-12). "Ventura quits Perot's Reform party". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  9. ^ Naylor, Brian (2020-10-07). "How Maine's Ranked-Choice Voting System Works". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  10. ^ Amato, Theresa (December 4, 2009). "The two party ballot suppresses third party change". The Record. Harvard Law. Retrieved April 16, 2012. Today, as in 1958, ballot access for minor parties and Independents remains convoluted and discriminatory. Though certain state ballot access statutes are better, and a few Supreme Court decisions (Williams v. Rhodes, 393 U.S. 23 (1968), Anderson v. Celebrezze, 460 U.S. 780 (1983)) have been generally favorable, on the whole, the process—and the cumulative burden it places on these federal candidates—may be best described as antagonistic. The jurisprudence of the Court remains hostile to minor party and Independent candidates, and this antipathy can be seen in at least a half dozen cases decided since Nader's article, including Jenness v. Fortson, 403 U.S. 431 (1971), American Party of Tex. v. White, 415 U.S. 767 (1974), Munro v. Socialist Workers Party, 479 U.S. 189 (1986), Burdick v. Takushi, 504 U.S. 428 (1992), and Arkansas Ed. Television Comm'n v. Forbes, 523 U.S. 666 (1998). Justice Rehnquist, for example, writing for a 6–3 divided Court in Timmons v. Twin Cities Area New Party, 520 U.S. 351 (1997), spells out the Court's bias for the "two-party system," even though the word "party" is nowhere to be found in the Constitution. He wrote that "The Constitution permits the Minnesota Legislature to decide that political stability is best served through a healthy two-party system. And while an interest in securing the perceived benefits of a stable two-party system will not justify unreasonably exclusionary restrictions, States need not remove all the many hurdles third parties face in the American political arena today." 520 U.S. 351, 366–67.
  11. ^ 2000 Presidential General Election Results, Federal Election Commission, retrieved 2007-12-20
  12. ^ "Official General Election Results for United States President" (PDF). Public Records Office Election Results. United States Federal Election Commission. November 2, 2004. Retrieved April 16, 2012.
  13. ^ Lister, J (September 1980), "1980 Debates", The New England Journal of Medicine, Commission on Presidential Debates, 303 (13): 741–44, doi:10.1056/NEJM198009253031307, PMID 6157090, retrieved 2007-12-20
  14. ^ What Happened in 1992?, opendebates.org, retrieved 2007-12-20
  15. ^ What Happened in 1996?, opendebates.org, retrieved 2007-12-20
  16. ^ What Happened in 2004?, opendebates.org, retrieved 2007-12-20
  17. ^ 2004 Candidate Selection Criteria, Commission on Presidential Debates, September 24, 2003, retrieved 2007-12-20
  18. ^ , Commession on Presidential Debates, archived from the original on 2008-06-11, retrieved 2007-12-20
  19. ^ The 15 Percent Barrier, opendebates.org, retrieved 2007-12-20
  20. ^ , Commission on Presidential Debates, November 19, 2007, archived from the original on November 19, 2008, retrieved 2007-12-20

Further reading

Surveys

  • Epstein, David A. (2012). Left, Right, Out: The History of Third Parties in America. Arts and Letters Imperium Publications. ISBN 978-0-578-10654-0
  • Gillespie, J. David. Challengers to Duopoly: Why Third Parties Matter in American Two-Party Politics (University of South Carolina Press, 2012)
  • Green, Donald J. Third-Party Matters: Politics, Presidents, and Third Parties in American History (Praeger, 2010)
  • Herrnson, Paul S. and John C. Green, eds. Multiparty Politics in America (Rowman & Littlefield, 1997)
  • Hesseltine, William B. Third-Party Movements in the United States (1962), Brief survey
  • Hicks, John D. "The Third Party Tradition in American Politics." Mississippi Valley Historical Review 20 (1933): 3–28. in JSTOR
  • Kruschke, Earl R. Encyclopedia of Third Parties in the United States (ABC-CLIO, 1991)
  • Ness, Immanuel and James Ciment, eds. Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America (4 vol. 2006)
  • Richardson, Darcy G. Others: Third Party Politics from the Nation's Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback-Labor Party. Vol. 1. iUniverse, 2004.
  • Rosenstone, Steven J., Roy L. Behr, and Edward H. Lazarus. Third Parties in America: Citizen Response to Major Party Failure (2nd ed. Princeton University Press, 1996)
  • Schlesinger, Arthur Meier, Jr. ed. History of U.S. Political Parties (1973) multivolume compilation includes essays by experts on the more important third parties, plus some primary sources
  • Sifry, Micah L. Spoiling for a Fight: Third Party Politics in America (Routledge, 2002)

Scholarly studies

  • Abramson Paul R., John H. Aldrich, Phil Paolino, and David W. Rohde. "Third-Party and Independent Candidates in American Politics: Wallace, Anderson, and Perot." Political Science Quarterly 110 (1995): 349–67
  • Argersinger, Peter H. The Limits of Agrarian Radicalism: Western Populism and American Politics (University Press of Kansas, 1995)
  • Berg, John C. "Beyond a Third Party: The Other Minor Parties in the 1996 Elections," in The State of the Parties: The Changing Role of Contemporary American Parties ed by Daniel M. Shea and John C. Green (3rd ed. Rowman & Littlefield, 1998), pp. 212–28
  • Berg, John C. "Spoiler or Builder? The Effect of Ralph Nader's 2000 Campaign on the U.S. Greens." in The State of the Parties: The Changing Role of Contemporary American Parties, (4th ed. 2003) edited by John C. Green and Rick Farmer, pp. 323–36.
  • Brooks, Corey M. Liberty Power: Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics (University of Chicago Press, 2016). 302 pp.
  • Burden, Barry C. "Ralph Nader's Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U.S. Presidential Election." American Politics Research 33 (2005): 672–99.
  • Carlin, Diana B., and Mitchell S. McKinney, eds. The 1992 Presidential Debates in Focus (1994), includes Ross Parot
  • Chace, James. 1912: Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft and Debs – The Election that Changed the Country (2009)
  • Darsey, James. "The Legend of Eugene Debs: Prophetic Ethos as Radical Argument." Quarterly Journal of Speech 74 (1988): 434–52.
  • Gould, Lewis L. Four Hats in the Ring: The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics (2008)
  • Hazlett, Joseph. The Libertarian Party and Other Minor Political Parties in the United States (McFarland & Company, 1992)
  • Hogan, J. Michael. "Wallace and the Wallacites: A Reexamination." Southern Speech Communication Journal 50 (1984): 24–48. On George Wallace in 1968
  • Jelen, Ted G. ed. Ross for Boss: The Perot Phenomenon and Beyond (State University of New York Press, 2001)
  • Koch, Jeffrey. "The Perot Candidacy and Attitudes Toward Government and Politics." Political Research Quarterly 51 (1998): 141–53.
  • Koch, Jeffrey. "Political Cynicism and Third Party Support in American Presidential Elections," American Politics Research 31 (2003): 48–65.
  • Lee, Michael J. "The Populist Chameleon: The People's Party, Huey Long, George Wallace, and the Populist Argumentative Frame." Quarterly Journal of Speech (2006): 355–78.
  • Mowry, George E. Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement (1946), on 1912
  • Rapoport, Ronald B., and Walter J. Stone. Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, and Republican Resurgence (University of Michigan Press, 2005)
  • Richardson, Darcy G. Others: Third Parties During the Populist Period (2007) 506 pp
  • Richardson, Darcy G. A Toast to Glory: The Prohibition Party Flirts With Greatness 59 pp
  • Rohler, Lloyd. "Conservative Appeals to the People: George Wallace's Populist Rhetoric." Southern Communication Journal 64 (1999): 316–22.
  • Rohler, Lloyd. George Wallace: Conservative Populist (Praeger, 2004)
  • Rosenfeld, Lawrence W. "George Wallace Plays Rosemary's Baby." Quarterly Journal of Speech 55 (1969): 36–44.
  • Ross, Jack. The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History (2015) 824 pp
  • Shepard, Ryan Michael. "Deeds done in different words: a genre-based approach to third party presidential campaign discourse." (PhD Dissertation, University of Kansas 2011) online
  • Tamas, Bernard. 2018. The Demise and Rebirth of American Third Parties: Poised for Political Revival? Routledge.

External links

  • , essay by Richard Winger
  • Ballot Access News – Ballot Access news on all parties
  • Free and Equal – Election Reform to end partisan duopoly
  • Independent Political Report – Frequently updated source for third party news

January 26, 2023
third, party, united, states, third, party, term, used, united, states, american, political, parties, other, than, dominant, parties, currently, republican, democratic, parties, sometimes, phrase, minor, party, used, instead, third, party, third, parties, most. Third party is a term used in the United States for American political parties other than the two dominant parties currently the Republican and Democratic Parties Sometimes the phrase minor party is used instead of third party Third parties are most often encountered when they nominate presidential candidates No third party candidate has won the presidency since the Republican Party became a major party in the mid 19th century Since that time only in five elections 1892 1912 1924 1948 and 1968 has a third party candidate carried any states and only in one of them 1912 did that candidate come out in second place nationally or electorally Contents 1 Current U S third parties 1 1 Largest voter registration over 100 000 1 2 Smaller parties by ideology 1 2 1 Right wing 1 2 2 Centrist 1 2 3 Left wing 1 2 4 Ethnic nationalism 1 2 5 Secessionist parties 1 2 6 Single issue protest oriented 2 Notable elections 3 Barriers to third party success 3 1 Winner take all vs proportional representation 3 2 Ballot access laws 3 3 Debate rules 3 4 Major party marginalization 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 6 1 Surveys 6 2 Scholarly studies 7 External linksCurrent U S third parties EditMain article List of political parties in the United States This list does not include political organizations that do not run candidates for office but otherwise function similarly to third parties For non electoral political parties see here Currently the Libertarian and Green Parties are the largest in the U S after the Republican and Democratic Parties Shown here are signs of their 2016 campaigns respectively Largest voter registration over 100 000 Edit Libertarian Party libertarianism laissez faire economics pro civil liberties anti war Green Party Green politics eco socialism anti capitalism progressivism pro civil liberties anti war Constitution Party Conservatism paleoconservatism Christian reconstructionism social conservatismSmaller parties by ideology Edit This section includes only parties that have actually run candidates under their name in recent years Right wing Edit This section includes any party that advocates positions associated with American conservatism including both Old Right and New Right ideologies Christian Liberty PartyState only parties American Independent Party California Conservative Party of New York State Constitution Party of OregonCentrist Edit This section includes any party that is independent populist or any other that either rejects left right politics or doesn t have a party platform Alliance Party American Solidarity Party Citizens Party Forward Party Forward Reform Party of the United States of America Serve America Movement United States Pirate Party Unity Party of AmericaState only parties Moderate Party of Rhode Island Independent Party of Delaware Independent Party of Oregon Keystone Party of Pennsylvania United Utah PartyLeft wing Edit This section includes any party that has a left liberal progressive social democratic democratic socialist or Marxist platform Communist Party USA Freedom Socialist Party Justice Party USA People s Party Party for Socialism and Liberation Peace and Freedom Party Socialist Action Socialist Equality Party Socialist Alternative Socialist Party USA Socialist Workers Party Working Class Party Workers World Party Working Families PartyState only parties Charter Party Cincinnati Ohio only Green Mountain Peace and Justice Party Vermont Green Party of Alaska Green Party of Rhode Island Labor Party South Carolina Liberal Party of New York Oregon Progressive Party Progressive Dane Dane county Wisconsin United Independent Party Massachusetts Vermont Progressive Party Washington Progressive PartyEthnic nationalism Edit This section includes parties that primarily advocate for granting special privileges or consideration to members of a certain race ethnic group religion etc American Freedom Party Black Riders Liberation Party National Socialist Movement New Afrikan Black Panther PartyAlso included in this category are various parties found in and confined to Native American reservations almost all of which are solely devoted to the furthering of the tribes to which the reservations were assigned An example of a particularly powerful tribal nationalist party is the Seneca Party that operates on the Seneca Nation of New York s reservations 1 Secessionist parties Edit This section includes parties that primarily advocate for Independence from the United States Specific party platforms may range from left wing to right wing Alaskan Independence Party Aloha ʻAina Party Hawaii California National PartySingle issue protest oriented Edit This section includes parties that primarily advocate single issue politics though they may have a more detailed platform or may seek to attract protest votes rather than to mount serious political campaigns or advocacy Grassroots Legalize Cannabis Party Legal Marijuana Now Party Prohibition Party United States Marijuana Party citation needed State only parties Approval Voting Party Colorado Natural Law Party Michigan New York State Right to Life Party Rent Is Too Damn High Party New York Notable elections EditMain article List of third party and independent performances in United States elections Main article List of third party performances in United States presidential elections A number of third party independent and write in candidates have performed well in many U S elections 2 Greens Libertarians and others have elected state legislators and local officials The Socialist Party elected hundreds of local officials in 169 cities in 33 states by 1912 including Milwaukee Wisconsin New Haven Connecticut Reading Pennsylvania and Schenectady New York 3 There have been 20th century governors elected as independents and from such parties as Progressive Reform Farmer Labor Populist and Prohibition There were others in the 19th century However the United States has had a two party system for over a century The winner take all system for presidential elections and the single seat plurality voting system for Congressional elections have over time created the two party system see Duverger s law Third party candidates sometimes win elections For example such a candidate has won a U S Senate election twice 0 6 since 1990 Sometimes a national officeholder not affiliated with and endorsed by one of the two major parties is elected Previously Senator Lisa Murkowski won re election in 2010 as a write in candidate and not as the Republican nominee and Senator Joe Lieberman ran and won as a third party candidate in 2006 after leaving the Democratic Party 4 5 Currently there are only two U S Senators Angus King and Bernie Sanders who are neither Democratic nor Republican while former Representative Justin Amash has joined the Libertarian Party as of April 28 2020 6 Although third party candidates rarely actually win elections they can have an effect on them If they do well then they are often accused of having a spoiler effect Sometimes they have won votes in the electoral college as in the 1832 Presidential election They can draw attention to issues that may be ignored by the majority parties If such an issue finds acceptance with the voters one or more of the major parties may adopt the issue into its own party platform Also a third party may be used by the voter to cast a protest vote as a form of referendum on an important issue Third parties may also help voter turnout by bringing more people to the polls Third party candidates at the top of the ticket can help to draw attention to other party candidates down the ballot helping them to win local or state office In 2004 the U S electorate consisted of an estimated 43 registered Democrats and 33 registered Republicans with independents and those belonging to other parties constituting 25 7 The only three U S Presidents without a major party affiliation were George Washington John Tyler and Andrew Johnson and only Washington served his entire tenure as an independent Neither of the other two were ever elected president in their own right both being vice presidents who ascended to office upon the death of the president and both became independents because they were unpopular with their parties John Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket in 1840 with William Henry Harrison but was expelled by his own party Johnson was the running mate for Abraham Lincoln who was reelected on the National Union ticket in 1864 it was a temporary name for the Republican Party Bill Walker of Alaska was from 2014 to 2018 the only independent governor in the United States He was also the first independent governor since Alaska became a state although not the first third party governor In 1998 wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota on the Reform Party ticket 8 As of 2021 the only independent U S senators are Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine both senators caucus with the Democratic Party No current members of the House of Representatives is a member of a third party Former representative Justin Amash of Michigan originally elected as a Republican joined the Libertarian Party in April 2020 after having left the Republican Party in July 2019 and is the most recent member of a third party in the House He did not seek re election in 2020 Barriers to third party success Edit Winner take all vs proportional representation Edit In winner take all or plurality take all the candidate with the largest number of votes wins even if the margin of victory is extremely narrow or the proportion of votes received is not a majority Unlike in proportional representation runners up do not gain representation in a first past the post system In the United States systems of proportional representation are uncommon especially above the local level and are entirely absent at the national level even though states like Maine have introduced systems like ranked choice voting which ensures that the voice of third party voters is heard in case none of the candidates receives a majority of preferences 9 In Presidential elections the majority requirement of the Electoral College and the Constitutional provision for the House of Representatives to decide the election if no candidate receives a majority serves as a further disincentive to third party candidacies In the United States if an interest group is at odds with its traditional party it has the option of running sympathetic candidates in primaries Candidates failing in the primary may form or join a third party Because of the difficulties third parties face in gaining any representation third parties tend to exist to promote a specific issue or personality Often the intent is to force national public attention on such an issue Then one or both of the major parties may rise to commit for or against the matter at hand or at least weigh in H Ross Perot eventually founded a third party the Reform Party to support his 1996 campaign In 1912 Theodore Roosevelt made a spirited run for the presidency on the Progressive Party ticket but he never made any efforts to help Progressive congressional candidates in 1914 and in the 1916 election he supported the Republicans Ballot access laws Edit Nationally ballot access laws are the major challenge to third party candidacies While the Democratic and Republican parties usually easily obtain ballot access in all fifty states in every election third parties often fail to meet criteria for ballot access such as registration fees Or in many states they do not meet petition requirements in which a certain number of voters must sign a petition for a third party or independent candidate to gain ballot access 10 In recent presidential elections Ross Perot appeared on all 50 state ballots as an independent in 1992 and the candidate of the Reform Party in 1996 Perot a billionaire was able to provide significant funds for his campaigns Patrick Buchanan appeared on all 50 state ballots in the 2000 election 11 largely on the basis of Perot s performance as the Reform Party s candidate four years prior The Libertarian Party has appeared on the ballot in at least 46 states in every election since 1980 except for 1984 when David Bergland gained access in only 36 states In 1980 1992 1996 2016 and 2020 the party made the ballot in all 50 states and D C The Green Party gained access to 44 state ballots in 2000 but only 27 in 2004 The Constitution Party appeared on 42 state ballots in 2004 12 Ralph Nader running as an independent in 2004 appeared on 34 state ballots In 2008 Nader appeared on 45 state ballots and the D C ballot For more information see ballot access laws Debate rules Edit Presidential debates between the nominees of the two major parties first occurred in 1960 then after three cycles without debates took place again in 1976 and have happened in every election since Third party or independent candidates have been included in these debates in only two cycles Ronald Reagan and John Anderson debated in 1980 but incumbent President Carter refused to appear with Anderson and Anderson was excluded from the subsequent debate between Reagan and Carter Debates in other state and federal elections often exclude independent and third party candidates and the Supreme Court has upheld such tactics in several cases The Commission on Presidential Debates CPD is a private company 13 Independent Ross Perot was included in all three of the debates with Republican George H W Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992 largely at the behest of the Bush campaign citation needed His participation helped Perot climb from 7 before the debates to 19 on Election Day 14 Perot was excluded from the 1996 debates despite his strong showing four years prior 15 In 2000 revised debate access rules made it even harder for third party candidates to gain access by stipulating that besides being on enough state ballots to win an Electoral College majority debate participants must clear 15 in pre debate opinion polls This rule remained in place for 2004 16 17 when as many as 62 million people watched the debates 18 and has continued being in effect as of 2008 19 20 The 15 criterion had it been in place would have prevented Anderson and Perot from participating in the debates they appeared in Major party marginalization Edit This section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed June 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message A third party candidate will sometimes strike a chord with a section of voters in a particular election bringing an issue to national prominence and amount a significant proportion of the popular vote Major parties often respond to this by adopting this issue in a subsequent election After 1968 under President Nixon the Republican Party adopted a Southern Strategy to win the support of conservative Democrats opposed to the Civil Rights Movement and resulting legislation and to combat third parties with southern agendas This can be seen as a response to the popularity of segregationist candidate George Wallace who gained 13 5 of the popular vote in the 1968 election for the American Independent Party In 1996 both the Democrats and the Republicans agreed to deficit reduction on the back of Ross Perot s popularity in the 1992 election This severely undermined Perot s campaign in the 1996 election See also EditEqual time rule Third party and independent members of the United States House of Representatives United States Electoral College Independent politician Political party Political parties in the United States Proportional representation Third party politics SuffrageReferences Edit Herbeck Dan November 15 2011 Resentments abound in Seneca power struggle The Buffalo News Retrieved November 16 2011 Arthur Meier Schlesinger ed History of US political parties 5 vol Chelsea House Pub 2002 Nichols John 2011 The S Word A Short History of an American Tradition Verso p 104 ISBN 9781844676798 Senator Lisa Murkowski wins Alaska write in campaign Reuters 2010 11 18 Retrieved 2018 12 31 Zeller Shawn Crashing the Lieberman Party New York Times archive nytimes com Retrieved 2018 12 31 Justin Amash Becomes the First Libertarian Member of Congress Reason com 2020 04 29 Retrieved 2020 05 13 Neuhart P 2004 01 22 Why politics is fun from catbirds seats USA Today Retrieved 2007 07 11 Kettle Martin 2000 02 12 Ventura quits Perot s Reform party The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 2018 12 31 Naylor Brian 2020 10 07 How Maine s Ranked Choice Voting System Works National Public Radio Retrieved 2020 12 04 Amato Theresa December 4 2009 The two party ballot suppresses third party change The Record Harvard Law Retrieved April 16 2012 Today as in 1958 ballot access for minor parties and Independents remains convoluted and discriminatory Though certain state ballot access statutes are better and a few Supreme Court decisions Williams v Rhodes 393 U S 23 1968 Anderson v Celebrezze 460 U S 780 1983 have been generally favorable on the whole the process and the cumulative burden it places on these federal candidates may be best described as antagonistic The jurisprudence of the Court remains hostile to minor party and Independent candidates and this antipathy can be seen in at least a half dozen cases decided since Nader s article including Jenness v Fortson 403 U S 431 1971 American Party of Tex v White 415 U S 767 1974 Munro v Socialist Workers Party 479 U S 189 1986 Burdick v Takushi 504 U S 428 1992 and Arkansas Ed Television Comm n v Forbes 523 U S 666 1998 Justice Rehnquist for example writing for a 6 3 divided Court in Timmons v Twin Cities Area New Party 520 U S 351 1997 spells out the Court s bias for the two party system even though the word party is nowhere to be found in the Constitution He wrote that The Constitution permits the Minnesota Legislature to decide that political stability is best served through a healthy two party system And while an interest in securing the perceived benefits of a stable two party system will not justify unreasonably exclusionary restrictions States need not remove all the many hurdles third parties face in the American political arena today 520 U S 351 366 67 2000 Presidential General Election Results Federal Election Commission retrieved 2007 12 20 Official General Election Results for United States President PDF Public Records Office Election Results United States Federal Election Commission November 2 2004 Retrieved April 16 2012 Lister J September 1980 1980 Debates The New England Journal of Medicine Commission on Presidential Debates 303 13 741 44 doi 10 1056 NEJM198009253031307 PMID 6157090 retrieved 2007 12 20 What Happened in 1992 opendebates org retrieved 2007 12 20 What Happened in 1996 opendebates org retrieved 2007 12 20 What Happened in 2004 opendebates org retrieved 2007 12 20 2004 Candidate Selection Criteria Commission on Presidential Debates September 24 2003 retrieved 2007 12 20 2004 Debates Commession on Presidential Debates archived from the original on 2008 06 11 retrieved 2007 12 20 The 15 Percent Barrier opendebates org retrieved 2007 12 20 Commission on Presidential Debates Announces Sites Dates Formats and Candidate Selection Criteria for 2008 General Election Commission on Presidential Debates November 19 2007 archived from the original on November 19 2008 retrieved 2007 12 20Further reading EditSurveys Edit Epstein David A 2012 Left Right Out The History of Third Parties in America Arts and Letters Imperium Publications ISBN 978 0 578 10654 0 Gillespie J David Challengers to Duopoly Why Third Parties Matter in American Two Party Politics University of South Carolina Press 2012 Green Donald J Third Party Matters Politics Presidents and Third Parties in American History Praeger 2010 Herrnson Paul S and John C Green eds Multiparty Politics in America Rowman amp Littlefield 1997 Hesseltine William B Third Party Movements in the United States 1962 Brief survey Hicks John D The Third Party Tradition in American Politics Mississippi Valley Historical Review 20 1933 3 28 in JSTOR Kruschke Earl R Encyclopedia of Third Parties in the United States ABC CLIO 1991 Ness Immanuel and James Ciment eds Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America 4 vol 2006 Richardson Darcy G Others Third Party Politics from the Nation s Founding to the Rise and Fall of the Greenback Labor Party Vol 1 iUniverse 2004 Rosenstone Steven J Roy L Behr and Edward H Lazarus Third Parties in America Citizen Response to Major Party Failure 2nd ed Princeton University Press 1996 Schlesinger Arthur Meier Jr ed History of U S Political Parties 1973 multivolume compilation includes essays by experts on the more important third parties plus some primary sources Sifry Micah L Spoiling for a Fight Third Party Politics in America Routledge 2002 Scholarly studies Edit Abramson Paul R John H Aldrich Phil Paolino and David W Rohde Third Party and Independent Candidates in American Politics Wallace Anderson and Perot Political Science Quarterly 110 1995 349 67 Argersinger Peter H The Limits of Agrarian Radicalism Western Populism and American Politics University Press of Kansas 1995 Berg John C Beyond a Third Party The Other Minor Parties in the 1996 Elections in The State of the Parties The Changing Role of Contemporary American Parties ed by Daniel M Shea and John C Green 3rd ed Rowman amp Littlefield 1998 pp 212 28 Berg John C Spoiler or Builder The Effect of Ralph Nader s 2000 Campaign on the U S Greens in The State of the Parties The Changing Role of Contemporary American Parties 4th ed 2003 edited by John C Green and Rick Farmer pp 323 36 Brooks Corey M Liberty Power Antislavery Third Parties and the Transformation of American Politics University of Chicago Press 2016 302 pp Burden Barry C Ralph Nader s Campaign Strategy in the 2000 U S Presidential Election American Politics Research 33 2005 672 99 Carlin Diana B and Mitchell S McKinney eds The 1992 Presidential Debates in Focus 1994 includes Ross Parot Chace James 1912 Wilson Roosevelt Taft and Debs The Election that Changed the Country 2009 Darsey James The Legend of Eugene Debs Prophetic Ethos as Radical Argument Quarterly Journal of Speech 74 1988 434 52 Gould Lewis L Four Hats in the Ring The 1912 Election and the Birth of Modern American Politics 2008 Hazlett Joseph The Libertarian Party and Other Minor Political Parties in the United States McFarland amp Company 1992 Hogan J Michael Wallace and the Wallacites A Reexamination Southern Speech Communication Journal 50 1984 24 48 On George Wallace in 1968 Jelen Ted G ed Ross for Boss The Perot Phenomenon and Beyond State University of New York Press 2001 Koch Jeffrey The Perot Candidacy and Attitudes Toward Government and Politics Political Research Quarterly 51 1998 141 53 Koch Jeffrey Political Cynicism and Third Party Support in American Presidential Elections American Politics Research 31 2003 48 65 Lee Michael J The Populist Chameleon The People s Party Huey Long George Wallace and the Populist Argumentative Frame Quarterly Journal of Speech 2006 355 78 Mowry George E Theodore Roosevelt and the Progressive Movement 1946 on 1912 Rapoport Ronald B and Walter J Stone Three s a Crowd The Dynamic of Third Parties Ross Perot and Republican Resurgence University of Michigan Press 2005 Richardson Darcy G Others Third Parties During the Populist Period 2007 506 pp Richardson Darcy G A Toast to Glory The Prohibition Party Flirts With Greatness 59 pp Rohler Lloyd Conservative Appeals to the People George Wallace s Populist Rhetoric Southern Communication Journal 64 1999 316 22 Rohler Lloyd George Wallace Conservative Populist Praeger 2004 Rosenfeld Lawrence W George Wallace Plays Rosemary s Baby Quarterly Journal of Speech 55 1969 36 44 Ross Jack The Socialist Party of America A Complete History 2015 824 pp Shepard Ryan Michael Deeds done in different words a genre based approach to third party presidential campaign discourse PhD Dissertation University of Kansas 2011 online Tamas Bernard 2018 The Demise and Rebirth of American Third Parties Poised for Political Revival Routledge External links EditThe Importance of Ballot Access essay by Richard Winger Ballot Access News Ballot Access news on all parties Free and Equal Election Reform to end partisan duopoly Independent Political Report Frequently updated source for third party news Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Third party United States amp oldid 1134733921, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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