Will non-mainstream political parties ever have a chance?

Lunatik

Lunatik

Active member
I mean like Libertarians, etc. They do seem to have a few good ideas. Check out their website: http://www.lp.org/

Many developed, Western or West-oriented countries in Europe and elsewhere often have several parties with varying views compete for government offices. Why is it always between just these two in the US? And historically being an immigrant founded country with many different peoples, cultures, colors, backgrounds, etc, you'd think America would actually have the highest number of political parties with high aspirations. I don't get it. :neutral:
 
Well I've lifted some of this from Wiki and added a few of my own comments but I'm sure US citizens know more than I do.
  1. Most officials in America are elected from single-member districts and win office by beating out their opponents in a first past the post system. This is where a single winner is chosen in a given constituency by having more votes than any other individual representative. First past the post systems discriminate heavily in favour of the strongest parties.
  2. State legislatures enact tough laws that makes it hard for minor political parties to run candidates for office by requiring a high number of petition signatures from citizens and decreasing the length of time that such a petition could legally be circulated.
  3. Third parties thrive under the parliamentary system in which governing coalitions are formed after elections. The United States is not a parliamentary system, and indeed, in the United States, it could be said that coalitions are formed before elections under the umbrella of party organizations.
 
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I have voted Republican for many years but they have completely discusted me for a while now. I disagreed with the war in Iraq but disagree with the democrat set a time table and run plan. Now that we are in Iraq we have to win and set up a free democratic style republic or Iran will simply take over.

Both our major parties agree on the end game but not how to get there they want a socialism like western europe just how to get there is what they argue about.

Liberterains I agree with some of what the say but not all of it.

Through history when a 3rd party gets popular to a point the two established parties jump on the band wagon and hijack the issue for their own there by preventing a third party form reaching a point where they can wield real sway over the political land scape.
 
Being broke doesn't really explain the long term dominance of two parties, it is due to the nature of the voting system. First past the post will always result in 2 party dominance and others won't be able to get a foothold. We see exactly the same in the UK between the Conservatives and Labour, the Liberals with 20% of the vote at times hold very few seats and virtually no power. Contrast this with proportional representation systems in Europe were parties such as the Greens and Racist parties can hold significant influence. You can see why countries with 2 party systems don't wan't to change things since it might compromise their dominance. Others are against it because it allows extremists in.
 
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Having a great idea... a lot of US have great ideas. It's about getting the resources and the ability to make things happen. That's where the difference lies.
 
perseus said:
Being broke doesn't really explain the long term dominance of two parties, it is due to the nature of the voting system. First past the post will always result in 2 party dominance and others won't be able to get a foothold. We see exactly the same in the UK between the Conservatives and Labour, the Liberals with 20% of the vote at times hold very few seats and virtually no power. Contrast this with proportional representation systems in Europe were parties such as the Greens and Racist parties can hold significant influence. You can see why countries with 2 party systems don't wan't to change things since it might compromise their dominance. Others are against it because it allows extremists in.
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Yes but that's more a of a recent development, 80 years ago 3rd parties played a major role in US presidential politics. For example the Bull Moose Party was powerful enough to got Woodrow Wilson elected because it sapped votes that would have normally gone to the GOP. The 1920s Progressive Party was a nasty thorn in the Democrats arse as they stole blue collar worker votes from them. This resulted in 3 GOP Presidents Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover.

3rd Parties in countries like France and the UK lack charismatic leaders and a solid message, but Today, in US politics its really about money. Thats different because US elections rules are much looser about how they campaign season works and the rules about fund raising. Europe election season only last about 6 weeks, depending on country.
 
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As a sidenote, I know the leader of one of the minor parties in the UK, (Alan) Howlin laud Hope, of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party! Their defence policy was to fire at the French with peashooters off the white cliffs of Dover. Well they got the first part right! (sorry mmarsh)

http://www.omrlp.com/

He is always quite prominent at by-elections but they always seem to loose their deposit. It's a bit of a protest vote really!

Alan has toured the US quite a bit as you can see, so I might ask him for his views on this!
 
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The entrenched interests have all the power. I didn't even bother to register this year because I honestly can't bring myself to vote for either major party for different reasons and no third party I support has a chance in hell of winning.
 
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