The Rise of Third Parties?

In chapter nine of the textbook the two-party American system is discussed at great length. Unlike other countries like France that have Multiparty systems, the two-party system has dominated American politics since the Civil War. Democrats and Republicans have fought against another in every election, leaving third parties in the dust. If the recent 2016 election cycle, however, proves to not be an anomaly the two-party system may be in trouble.

The 2016 election completely shook up the American political climate, pitting two extremely polarizing candidates against another. Hillary Clinton wasn’t viewed as liberal enough for many Democrats and President Trump’s antics and far-right rhetoric disgruntled many Americans. Third party candidates, Jill Stein and Gary Johnson, offered angry voters a third option and served as a protest vote. With almost 5% of voters choosing either a third party candidate or neither two party candidate, third party votes proved vital in swing states like Ohio and Florida. Two years later both the democrats and republicans are still feeling its effects. The Republican party no longer organizes itself by principles, instead, loyalty to the President is vital. The Democratic Pratt hasn’t fared much better, as the party’s members have begun to splinter into separate groups. Could this be chance for the Libertarian and Green part it’s to take the next step towards becoming a major party? Well, probably not.

It seems that every couple decades, the American people frustrated with the government-rebel in the form of protest voting. The last third-party candidate to gain a significant amount of the popular vote was Perot received 19% of the popular vote in 1992. For third parties to fully participate in general elections they must face a lot of challenges set forth by our two-party system. For a candidate to participate in the presidential debates they must poll at least at 15% at the time. This is an extremely difficult task for third party’s their exposure is limited. Third parties also must be on enough state ballots to mathematically win the election. Although this may sound easy, many states have their own rules on getting on the ballot, which uses up limited resources and time for third parties. The final and probably most important factor in the failure of third parties is their stigma. Many Americans refuse to vote for third parties based on the belief that is a wasted vote. Third party candidates rarely win (with the exception of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912) thus Americans feel that their voice would be heard through voting as either Democrat or Republican.
The stigma facing third parties along with a political system based off two parties doom any power third party’s wish to gain. Does the 2016 election provide any hope for third party supporters or will history repeat itself and third parties will fade back into unimportance?

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