My Research Question: How do we Introduce a Third Party to American Politics?
American politics is dominated by a two-party system which is beginning to lose popularity, maybe it’s about time we introduce a third party? Republicans and the Democrats have always had a long-lasting feud and sometimes rarely being bipartisan on policies. Americans need a third party to get behind when they disagree with both parties and have comfort in running to one that would have a significant voice in the government.
Source 1: The Federal Election Commission: Qualifying as a Political Party
To qualify as a political party, it all comes down to how the state governs ballot access. According to the Federal Election Commission, it all differs from federal and state representation as you have to gain political party status after meeting state criteria. “While the laws differ from state to state, they generally all require a nonmajor party to demonstrate sufficient voter support—such as by filing a petition for party recognition signed by a representative number of voters—in order to qualify for ballot access in the general election.” Claiming you’re a political party without a sufficient amount of supporters is inaccurate and improper. The Federal Election Commission is an independent government agency whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. The FEC was created during 1975 by Congress and it has jurisdiction over the United States. The current commissioner for the FEC is Ellen L. Weintraub whose affiliation is with the Democratic Party. However, the chair for the FEC is pretty divided as some seated members are Independent or even Republican.
The FEC is pretty important and cannot be affiliated with any party within the government and its main mission to primarily investigate finance abuse by setting limits. You’re required to register your political party with the FEC, “when they raise or spend money over certain thresholds in connection with a federal election.” The FEC tells me what’s required for an organization to even claim political party status within a state and the criteria they specifically have to meet. This sets standards and boundaries so gaining status wouldn’t be abused or thrown away. If a committee can demonstrate they’re capable of gaining national status, the FEC will decide if they gained enough activity to even gain status. If a state wants to only participate in state and/or local elections, they’re not legally bound to register with the FEC, however, state laws will still determine if they meet the criteria to even show up on the ballot as a choice. Not showing up on a ballot will prevent any recognition or voters, a third party would get.
Source 2: Wikipedia’s list of Third Parties
Third parties already exist within the United States, but they’re so poorly represented and can’t even rack up electoral votes. Wikipedia can provide information on every third party that’s currently active, inactive, or even state-only parties that only stick with state and/or elections, like the “Rent is Too Damn High Party” which is based in New York City and wouldn’t qualify for federal elections. Wikipedia provides up-to-date information on specific topics and maintains a neutral standpoint as its purpose is to provide facts, not biassed opinions. Biographies, descriptions, questions answered, etc. Wikipedia is owned by Wikimedia Foundation, which was founded by Jimmy Wales, an internet entrepreneur, and Larry Sanger, an online community organizer and philosophy professor, in 2001. Jimmy Wales is pretty left-leaning as he signed an open letter to American voters, along with eleven business leaders, to not vote for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Larry Sanger’s party affiliation is unknown, however, Wikipedia is also run by volunteer contributors that assist in correcting information on pages.
Some may refute Wikipedia as a valid source and say some information is made up, but not just anyone can change the information on a page, it has to be verified. Wikipedia’s mission is to spread knowledge and help people with educating. The list provided by Wikipedia to show the number of third parties in the United States and what they are do not include independents as they’re just centrists with either left or right-leaning. The source also provides the presidential votes they acquired in the 2016 election along with any state legislators that won an election. The only parties that have a significant amount of registrations, which are people who registered their support for their respective parties, are the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Party. The Libertarian Party exceeds 500,000 registered voters, the Green party has around 250,000 registered voters, and the Constitution Party has nearly 100,000 registered voters, these three parties are the only third parties that have the highest amount of registered voters.
Source 3: Poll conducted by Reinhart of Gallup News
We need a third major political party and Americans want one. The two major parties currently dominating American politics consist of the Republicans and the Democrats. Gallup News, a pretty fair unbiased news organization, provided a poll displaying the support for a major third political party amongst Americans. “A majority of Americans, 57%, say there is a need for a third, major political party, while 38% of Americans believe the current two-party system does an adequate job of representing the people. These views have been consistent since 2013.” The percentage has been significantly higher than 50% for the past years the poll has been conducted throughout. Gallup began conducting this poll around 2003 which was reversed and the public supported the idea that the two-party system is sufficient enough for American politics. RJ Reinhart, the person who wrote the article and conducted the poll, is an analyst, writer, and editor for Gallup and Gallup’s Higher Education and Government Divisions. Reinhart is in opposition with Trump, in regards to his tweets/retweets of key critics of Trump. Reinhart is biased with his politics, which lean left, however, this doesn’t affect the integrity of the poll.
A want for a third party isn’t determined by your political party affiliation, but what you seek in a third party. “Independents are, not surprisingly, the political partisan group most supportive of a third party. Seventy-two percent of political independents support a third major political party. Independents have consistently been the most supportive of a third party.” The poll conducted by Gallup occurs every 3 years and ever since the poll in 2012, support for a major third political party maintained a fluctuation of 50-60%. A third major political party would allow for more room of debate and representatives from each local election engaging in the republic.
Source 4: Interview conducted by NBC Correspondent Simone Boyce
An interview conducted by NBC news that interviews a Libertarian candidate running for governor in the state of New York provides reasoning as to why third parties ultimately cannot win. NBC news maintains a predominant liberal standpoint, especially with one of their anchors, Rachel Maddow. The interviewer who interviewed Larry Sharpe, the Libertarian candidate, is Simone Boyce, who’s left-leaning according to her tweets which oppose Trump but show support for Democratic presidential candidates, like Andrew Yang. However, her bias is hard to unveil as she maintains composure and doesn’t leak out her bias so easily. Boyce conducts the interview pretty professionally and even provides context outside the interview as to why third parties fail. Sharpe even explains his acknowledgment of possibly failing or not winning the governorship, but is not willing to give up so easily and is optimistic about it. A candidate that visits towns other big candidates for the two major parties wouldn’t visit, going live on social media plenty of times, and interacting with the public is a good way to gain recognition and support.
Sharpe stands for legalizing marijuana and wants to maintain rights to gun owners, which appeases both left and right wings. Not to get confused as an Independent, but a Libertarian exercises ultimate freedom to their rights and refuses to have a government tell them what they do. However, not complete anarchy, unless you’re far there in the political compass, but don’t want a limit of their rights. Sharpe acknowledges that if people see you’re neither Democrat or Republican, you shouldn’t even be looked at. Sharpe calls politics a rich man game, and he is not wrong, you only lead in polls if your political establishment backs you or if you’re wealthy. The biggest barrier he claims is the system itself as it’s mainly a two-party government. Money could be the biggest problem but refuted by Donald Green, who’s a political science professor at Columbia University, claims it’s the actual government system that gives no benefits to parties in second or third place. The interviewer sums it up by introducing Duverger’s Law which if you award one office, you have two parties vying for that aforementioned office, this shows me that keeping a party stable and being involved in the government is very competitive and risky business when wanting to be apart of it.
What I Learned:
Third parties are poorly represented and lack the capability of gaining significant strides in local to federal elections, however, such stride can be made. Being more exposed to third parties and what criteria they need to meet to even show on a ballot requires so much patience, effort, and funding. Living in a two-party system, where Republicans and Democrats are what dominant the government, proves difficult for a third party. I align with the Constitution party and believe we do need a third major political party as I don’t agree with the GOP as I feel abandoned, and I don’t align with the Democratic party in any way. I still want to know why third parties are so poorly represented and why Republicans, Democrats dominate the political system for over a century while there have been third party strides in the past.
Bibliography
- Federal Election Commission: Qualifying as a Political Party
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-political-party/qualifying-political-party/ - Wikipedia’s List of American Third Parties
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States - RJ Reinhart of Gallup News Third-Party Popularity Poll
https://news.gallup.com/poll/244094/majority-say-third-party-needed.aspx - Simone Boyce’s Interview of NYS Libertarian Candidate for Governor
https://www.nbcnews.com/video/why-can-t-third-party-candidates-win-1348512835713
