News Desk News Desk. The United States is home to more than 54 political parties — 37 of which have had candidates run for the presidency. But, despite an active political presence, only two parties — the Democrats and Republicans — dominate the modern American political process, between them fielding all of the candidates that have become president since the mids. Why, in a democracy, do only two parties dominate? What of the 52 other parties, many of which have contributed ideas and policies that have become mainstays of American political life and law?
The answer, according to historians and scholars, is the political process that has relegated third parties to the sidelines and the nature of the parties themselves. All of these parties have fielded presidential candidates in the last several elections. Ralph Nader, an independent candidate in the presidential race, made his name as a consumer advocate and as the two-time presidential nominee of the Green Party. As the Green Party candidate in , he gained more than 2 million votes, coming in third behind Al Gore and George W.
But controversy marred the Green Party accomplishment. The Green Party platform centers largely on the environment, while Libertarians, which make up the third largest political party in the country and the oldest of the third parties, believe in a reduced role of the government. They maintain that the government should serve only as a form of protection for citizens.
Although no Libertarian Party candidate has ever become president, several of its members hold elected office in state and local government. The American Taxpayers Party, which changed its name to the Constitution Party in , advocates a strict interpretation of the Constitution and more power for states and localities.
Its most popular candidate Howard Phillips ran for office in but received less than 1 percent of the vote. The most successful of the third parties in any one election was the Reform Party, which in nominated Texas billionaire Ross Perot as its candidate for president.
Perot ran on a platform that advocated reducing the federal budget deficit, an issue previously ignored in elections but one that would become a major part of almost every presidential campaign since. Perot received 19 percent of the vote. Third parties have had a major influence on U. They advocated for child labor laws in and, along with the Populist Party, introduced the notion of a hour work week, which led to the Fair Labor Standards Act of Only the highest vote getter in a district in federal and most state legislative elections gains a seat in office.
Candidates who have a realistic chance of winning under such a system are almost always associated with the Democratic and Republican parties, which have a strong following among voters and necessary resources, such as funding and volunteers to work in campaigns.
In contrast, proportional representation PR systems , such as those used in most European democracies, allow multiple parties to flourish. PR systems employ larger, multimember districts where five or more members of a legislature may be selected in a single election district.
Seats are distributed according to the proportion of the vote won by particular political parties. For example, in a district comprising ten seats, if the Democratic Party got 50 percent of the vote, it would be awarded five seats; if the Republican Party earned 30 percent of the vote, it would gain three seats; and if the Green Party earned 20 percent of the vote, it would be granted two seats.
Minor parties are hindered by laws that limit their ability to compete with major parties. Democrats and Republicans in office have created procedures and requirements that make it difficult for minor parties to be listed on ballots in many states. In Montana, Oklahoma, and several other states, a candidate must obtain the signatures of least 5 percent of registered voters to appear on the ballot.
A presidential candidate must collect over one million signatures to be listed on the ballot in every state. This is an insurmountable barrier for most minor parties that lack established organizations in many states. Campaign finance laws work against minor parties. The Federal Election Campaign Act and its amendments provide for public financing of presidential campaigns. Similar barriers hinder state-level minor-party candidates from receiving public funding for taxpayer-financed campaigns, although some states, such as Connecticut, are debating plans to rectify this situation.
The financial disadvantage of minor parties impedes their ability to amass resources that are vital to mounting a serious challenge to the two major parties. They lack funds to establish and equip permanent headquarters. They cannot hire staff and experienced consultants to conduct polls, gather political intelligence, court the press, generate new media outreach, or manage campaigns. Minor parties rarely receive significant media coverage except when they field a dynamic or outlandish candidate, such as Jesse Ventura, or when they are associated with a movement that taps into public concerns, such as the Tea Party.
The dominant horserace frame employed by the media focuses on who is ahead and behind in an election and usually tags minor-party candidates as losers early in the process.
Media treat minor parties as distractions and their candidates as novelty acts that divert attention from the main two-party attractions. Minor parties often are unable to air televised campaign ads because they lack funds. Even in the digital era, television advertising is an essential part of campaigns because it allows candidates to control their own message and reach large numbers of voters.
Minor-party candidates have difficulty gaining publicity and gaining recognition among voters when they cannot advertise. Minor-party candidates routinely are excluded from televised debates in which major-party candidates participate.
Bush and Democratic candidate Bill Clinton. These benefits were denied Ralph Nader when he was excluded from the presidential debates in because the Commission on Presidential Debates ruled that Nader did not have enough voter support to warrant inclusion. Minor-party candidates rarely have the opportunity to participate in televised presidential debates. An exception was Reform Party candidate Ross Perot, whose campaign was bolstered by his inclusion in the presidential debate with Republican George W.
Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton. When a minor-party movement gains momentum, the Republican and Democratic parties move quickly to absorb the minor party by offering enticements to their members, such as support for policies that are favored by the minor party. Major-party candidates appeal to minor-party supporters by arguing that votes for minor-party candidates are wasted. After the Democrats in Congress were instrumental in passing the Voting Rights Act in , the Republican Party absorbed the southern Dixiecrats, a Democratic Party faction opposed to the legislation.
Minor parties offer an alternative to the dominant Republican and Democratic parties, but they have difficulty surviving. They arise to challenge the two major parties when people feel that their interests are not being met.
There are four major types of minor parties: enduring, single-issue, candidate-centered, and fusion parties. Minor parties have difficulty winning high-level office but are able to fill seats at the county and local level. There are numerous challenges faced by minor parties in American politics, including winner-take-all elections, legal obstacles, lack of resources, and limited media coverage. Skip to main content.
Political Parties. Search for:. What are the types of minor parties in American politics? Because the minor parties make all the ideas but the major parties take their ideas and all their support making them irrelevant. Terms in this set 22 Divided government is the term used in the USA to refer to the situation in which one party controls the presidency while the other party controls Congress.
In other words, one party controls the executive while the other party controls the legislature. A third party is an individual or entity that is involved in a transaction but is not one of the principals and, thus, has a lesser interest in the transaction. National Convention have contributed to the decline of political parties because the national convention used to decide the nominee for the presidency.
Eventually, this right was taken away from all states and primaries began to determine the nominee, taking the power away from the national convention. How are critical elections and party realignments interrelated? A A party realignment occurs after a critical election when new voters outnumber old voters. A party realignment occurs before a critical election during periods of national crisis. What changed in the demographic of the New Deal coalition after nearly four decades of political control?
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