{"id":2158,"date":"2018-03-25T15:36:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-25T19:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/?p=2158"},"modified":"2018-03-25T15:36:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-25T19:36:15","slug":"third-party-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/2018\/03\/25\/third-party-struggles\/","title":{"rendered":"Third Party Struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

In chapter ten of the textbook, presidential campaigns and elections are discussed at great length. \u00a0Every presidential election in the history of the United States has been dominated by the two-party system. \u00a0Future elections don\u2019t seem to be changing anytime soon either. A reported 57% of Americans find that the democratic and republican parties have been lacking a third party is needed, yet the highest percent of votes gotten by a third party presidential candidate is only 27% by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912. \u00a0The American people want to hear from another voice, so why haven\u2019t we heard it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Regulations in debate qualification and a negative stigma have kept the third party\u2019s from seriously competing with the two major parties in the US. \u00a0The CPD (Commission on Presidential Debates) have set an impossible expectation for third parties to meet in order to participate in the debates. Participating parties must have more or equal to 15% of the nationwide popular vote in 5 recognized national polls. \u00a0The CPD also required third parties to appear on enough state ballots to mathematically win the election. This requirement disadvantages the smaller third parties that must use a significant amount of their time and resources since every state has their own ballot filing deadlines. \u00a0The only time a non-major candidate participated in the presidential debate was Ross Perot. Perot polled at 7 percent and was only invited because both parties thought they could use him to take votes away from the other.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another factor that has kept third-party candidates from getting national spotlight is the negative stigma surrounding their parties. \u00a0Most Americans would consider voting for a third party as a waste of a vote. Everyone knows a third party candidate won\u2019t win a presidential election, so many people don\u2019t see the point in voting for a loser. \u00a0If not labeled a wasted vote third party voters are also seen as protest votes. An example of protest voting is when Bernie supporters refused to vote for Hillary Clinton, instead, writing in Saunders name on the ballot or voting for a third party. \u00a0Third parties need to shake the stigma of being a wasted vote, by continuing to grow their platform and supporter size through furious and constant campaigning. <\/span><\/p>\n

Many people believe that if the candidate can\u2019t win, why should we waste time listening to them at a debate. \u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter if the candidate can win, it’s about the spreading of fresh and new ideas that can influence voters and the policies of the two major parties. \u00a0Third parties play a vital role in influencing the policy of the two major parties. The influence third parties have on the two major parties also can weaken the popularity of the party. \u00a0Democrats and Republican work hard to adjust their platforms to gain the largest group of voters. Many times this leads to policy change specifically aimed to win over third parties supporters. \u00a0Establishment Republicans will often work together with more conservative political groups when enacting policy geared towards the niche message of the third party, in order to gain the support of third party voters. party, in order to gain the support of third party voters. <\/span><\/p>\n

The American people have a desire to hear a serious third voice in politics. \u00a0Through the support of voters and political activists, third parties can gain more exposure. \u00a0I believe the American people are tired of the Democrats and Republican and want to hear a new voice. \u00a0What do you think? <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Faucheux, Ron. \u201cThis Was the Year a Third Party Candidate Could Have Won the Election.\u201d Quartz<\/i>, Quartz, 19 Oct. 2016, qz.com\/813355\/2016-presidential-election-this-was-the-year-a-third-party-candidate-could-have-won-the-presidency\/.<\/p>\n

Heinz, Brett. \u201cWhy Third Parties Can’t Win.\u201d The Odyssey Online<\/i>, 31 Oct. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com\/why-third-parties-cant-win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In chapter ten of the textbook, presidential campaigns and elections are discussed at great length. \u00a0Every presidential election in the history of the United States has been dominated by the two-party system. \u00a0Future elections don\u2019t seem to be changing anytime soon either. A reported 57% of Americans find that the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3776,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40541,40535],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9am-section","category-a-participatory-democracy","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3776"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/introamgov-mcgowen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}