It has come to my attention that most Americans label themselves as moderate or independent. A growing trend is that the young especially have a growing distrust for our civil institutions. From our interview in class and from asking other people I have met in my life very few people feel entirely satisfied with one party. They do not feel that either the Republicans nor the Democrats fully support all of their ideas.

The good news is there are other options that are not given  a shot. If were so tired of the Democrats and the Republicans why not put our votes for something else?! If theres anything we the youth have learned from Acts like SOPA. If anyone doesn’t remember that bipartisan act its that both the Democrats and Republicans in congress were trying to pass a law that would allow our internet to be constantly spied on and moderated by the Government. The youth went crazy emailing their representatives in dissent. We have a voice people. We can make change we can get the freedom we learned about in history books. Instead of being so cynical about our government try making a fundamental change. If we always do what we’ve always done we’ll always get what we’ve always got

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If anyone agrees this might be a party to look into.

The book I found is called Third Parties in America: Citizens Response to Major Party Failure. It is written by Steven J Rosenstone.  It details historical examples of third parties and their strength and pull in politics and presidential elections from eighteen forty to nineteen eighty. Basically he describes how in a two party system as we have in America we have two major parties, this is obvious however he takes the step further to say that there are people who naturally vote for candidates outside of the Republicans and the Democrats. These people usually just want to see specific issues addressed by campaigns rather than have this issue ignored for bigger ones that don’t necessarily matter to this particular voter. When this happens the third parties big issue is usually adopted and absorbed into one of the major party’s candidate’s campaign. However the majority of Americans are socialized to voting for Republicans or Democrats and believing they are the only real option. Rosenstone makes the argument that it is an extraordinary act for an American to break from this standard. Especially because they often have to gather information about third candidates for themselves rather than have it advertised as the major parties do. Rosenstone claims that third parties gather the most support in periods of greater dissent amongst the public. For instance third parties had next to zero support in the years just after the second world war. This is because voters liked the federal government. America had won the war gotten out of the great depression and was now a super power on a world scale with the best economy in the world. However in the seventies when America was seeing a gas shortage we see the votes spike for third parties. same for 1912 up to the second world war as this was the period leading up to the great depression and through the great depression which didn’t really end till the second world war, a period of renown patriotism in America. Based on this data and analysis I think it is safe to say that thirdparties are growing in this period as we see great dissent for todays politicians especially after the NSA scandal and the wars in the middle east that many see as the fault as a corrupt government.

The opposing argument to my view point is that third parties are harmful in American elections. This is because historically the third parties can’t win. American elections work by a first to the finish race. That means that the first candidate to get the majority wins the election. Thus when someone voted for a third party they take a vote from a major party and hinder them from beating out the opposition. The problem with this is that the party with the most similar ideas to the third party is hindered from being elected ultimately hurting the goals of the third party as well. I agree with the author in that third parties do take away votes from major parties. However this is the goal. Obviously a party doesn’t gain popularity in order to take over in one election. It takes slow growth. The third party should work to steadily take more votes from a party until it’s viewpoints become the mainstream platform and ideals of at least half the population. This source has given me an insight in that the success of a third party as a third party might not be possible. That is to say the american system does not allow for it. In which case the goal of third parties might not be to rise in equal strength as the other two major parties but instead to infiltrate one major party and become a mainstream major party while making either the republicans or democrats obsolete. This raises the question, for libertarians which party is best to be absorbed into. And would the American people really be benefitted from this. If the point is to have more options for the American people maybe the voting system itself should be reformed.

I am interested in the growth of third parties because I grew up in Kent county Delaware. There are only three counties in Delaware. This one is right in the middle. As such it has a very even amount of both liberal Democrats from northern Newark and conservative Republicans from southern Sussex. As such I, in my own political philosophy pulled ideas from both. I found I was neither liberal nor conservative, yet neither could I call myself a moderate or independent as I felt very strongly about the ideas I did have. As I grew older I learned there were other parties besides the major ones making up the two party system. There are the libertarians (that I align myself with) the green party for those who value the environment in all their ideologies, etc. I want to show people with this essay and these blogs that there are other options. If the major parties don’t really support your ideas the are not as undefeatable as you may think.

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