26 September 2008

Third Parties in U.S. Elections

Ron Paul, Cynthia McKinney, Chuck and Ralph Nader advocating for greater media inclusion of third-party candidates

The Republican and Democratic parties long have dominated the American political landscape. Since 1856, every president elected by U.S. voters has belonged to one of those two parties. But there are more than 30 other political parties, known as “third parties.” Candidates also can run as Independents, without any party affiliation.

Many of the numerous smaller parties or independent candidates have been important factors in elections — by drawing attention to campaign issues that otherwise may be ignored or by increasing voter turnout to send a message to the major parties by accumulating protest votes. In some cases, political experts argue, a third-party candidate also can change the outcome of an election. One of the most notable third-party candidates in recent history is Ralph Nader, who won 2.7 percent of the popular vote as the Green Party candidate in 2000. Nader won no Electoral College votes, but some Democrats still argue that Nader cost Al Gore the presidency by taking votes that most likely would have gone to the Democratic candidate.

Nader is among the potential dozens of third-party candidates competing for the presidency in 2008, although this time he is running as an Independent. Among them will be Libertarian Party candidate Bob Barr. Barr is a former Republican congressman. The Green Party’s presidential candidate is Cynthia McKinney, former Democratic congressional representative from Georgia.

The current third parties that have national voter registrations of more than 100,000 are the socially and economically conservative Constitution Party, the left-of-center Green Party, and the fiscally conservative but socially liberal Libertarian Party. Among smaller third parties are several state Conservative parties, the Centrist Party, the Socialist Party, and the Communist Party.