Third parties in contemporary American politics - Essay Example

THIRD PARTIES IN CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN POLITICS Task: Outline Response to Major Party Failure 2. The American Party System 3. Third party in Two Party System 4. Spoiling For a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America 5. The Tyranny of the Two-Party System 6. The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, & Republican Resurgence 7. The Decline of Third-Party Voting in the United States Third Parties in Contemporary American Politics “Response to Major Party Failure” Rosenstone, Behr& Lazarus presents a non academic yet intensive probe of the issue relating to how people respond to third political parties1.

Despite of their anonymity, Rosenstone, Behr& Lazarus believe that the U.S third parties have put a sizeable impact on the national political framework2 . Having not elected any representative past the county, by highlighting issues not captured by the general political class, they have managed to thrive. However, their undoing is evident in their slow response to diverse matters. Rosenstone, Behr& Lazarus equally indicate that, based on political ideas and policies, it is possible that a third party would attract substantial backing of the people3.

However, this would result in one of the one or both the parties anxiously struggling to win over voters. Based on their financial clout, the major parties would win over the supporters and take over the minor parties’ ideas and adopt them as their own. In light of this, it is evident that the power of third party political parties is dependable on their intrinsic capacity to affect the content and range of political discourse and ultimately public policies by outlining issues and options that the two principle parties have in the past failed to address.

Reportedly, from the write up, third party is the avenue through which citizens can express their dislike of the current political class and address the injustices they have always endured4. “The American Party System” According to Bibby, & Sandy5 the two party systems found it’s rooting in the aftermath of the revolution. During the civil war, the nation divided into two parts and after the war; many political confrontations took a two sided confrontation. Secondly, the, the perpetuated idea of the winner taking all lead to the formation of a formidable bipartisan rivalry that solely aimed at ensuring victory for either side.

Furthermore, major political debates took two sides at the centre stage with only two sides to any political debate. This has resulted in the third parties joining in either side of the debate there by assuming a democrats’ or a republicans’ stand. This not with standing, cases have arisen in which third parties have raised issues singled them out as major political forces. Additionally, Bibby, & Sandy notes that, the greatest impediment to the success of any of the third parties is the inherent belief by the public in the existing political system6.

This evident in the 1992 and 1996 elections in which the reform party candidate faltered terribly despite the huge despite the huge financial base established by the party. “Third party in Two Party System” Gillespie talks about the third party impulse in the American politics. According to him, the impulse by the third party is attributable to the hardheaded nature of the two major parties and their perceived ideological weakness7. This void affords the establishment of third parties who are acutely ideological and less pragmatic.

However, their ideological strength is hampered by the winner takes all policy. This does not offer them a stable national platform from where they can channel their political ideologies. The book gives brief history of known third parties like antimasonic party of the last 19th century and the preceding parties like progressive party. He points out money influence in third party politics in Ross Perot’s 1992 crusade8. Additionally, he reports the influence of women and blacks in third party politics noting their potential in dictating their future survival the fringe parties in the American politics.

“Spoiling For a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America” According to Sifry, the American two party systems is a duopoly that over the time has dictated the national politics. Sifry observes that they have over the decades achieved this purpose through the control of federal fiscal system. Reportedly, they no longer reflect the views of a vast mainstream of the American people9. The two parties have created a wide political and sociological net from where they draw support. The lack of adequate federal funding is a drawback for third parties who lack the financial clout with which to forge a new political front.

The third parties lack of an appealing profile and traditions are some of the undoing in furthering their political ambitions. He suggests closeness between the fringe parties and believes that united, they can form a formidable political force10. “The Tyranny of the Two-Party System” Disch thinks that the green party followers ultimately decided the strongly challenged presidential voting evident in 2000. This event highlighted a contradiction in the typical structure of the American opinionated system.

Disch attributes this event to the perceived notion that the green party voted based on their conscience rather that party euphoria11. Disch points at the fact that the actions of the Green party members is their constitutional right as there is no constitutional provision advocating for a solely two party systems. Additionally, she argues that the two party systems is a special type of tyranny citing their influences that bar others from being hard12. The book focuses on the fashionable approach called the fusion in which dominant candidates run on both the ballots of the established party and the party13.

In light of this, she notes that the year 2000 vote marked the pinnacle of the said tyranny. As such, this led to the diminished influence of the party. “The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, & Republican Resurgence” In this book, Rapoport & Stone highlights the significance of the fringe parties and their envisioned party change in politics. Rapoport & Stone develops anew theory and bases his arguments on empirical analysis. They show the impact of Perot’s candidacy, noting its lasting impact on adherent opposition in elections.

“The Decline of Third-Party Voting in the United States” Hirano & Snyder analyses the evident decline in third party politics over the past century. They attribute this to the democrats’ left wing policy which resulted in many third parties opting to join it while others opting for the republican14. They give this as the reason for the sharp decline of third party politics from the onset of the preceding century. Bibliography Bibby, John & Louis Sandy, Maisel. Two Parties-or More: The American Party System, Second Edition.

Colorado, CO: West view Press, 2003. Print. Disch, Lisa Jane. The Tyranny of the Two-Party System. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2002. Gillespie, David. Politics at the Periphery: Third Parties in Two-Party America. South Carolina, SC: University of South Carolina, 1993. Hirano & Snyder. “The Decline of Third-Party Voting in the United States.” Journal of Politics, (2007) 69: 1–16 Rapoport, Ronald &Walter, Stone. Three's a Crowd: The Dynamic of Third Parties, Ross Perot, & Republican Resurgence.

Michigan, MN: University of Michigan, 2005. Rosenstone, Steven, Roy, Behr & Edward, Lazarus. Third Parties in America: Citizen Response to Major Party Failure, Second Edition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984. Sifry, Micah. Spoiling For a Fight: Third-Party Politics in America. United Kingdom: Routledge, 2002.