Third Parties: United States

Abstract

A third party is any political party in the US political system other than one of the two major parties. Although there are many third parties, the US political system is correctly classified as a two-party system for several reasons. The most compelling, reflecting Duverger's Law, is the single-member, plurality electoral system used in the vast majority of elections. In addition, laws that limit the ability of third parties to compete successfully have reinforced the two-party system. Examples are laws limiting ballot access, banning fusion candidacies, and governing campaign finance. The first third party was the Anti-Masonic Party, formed in 1827. Third parties became more prevalent on the national political scene during the second half of the nineteenth century. They were organized around specific issues and ideologies. In contrast, major third-party efforts in the twentieth century were personality driven. There is little evidence that significant third-party challenges bring more Americans to the polls. Third parties do make two important contributions to the US political system. First, they offer voters a way to express dissatisfaction with the two major parties and their candidates. Second, they are vehicles for promoting issues and policies that the major parties may ignore.