The 2016 Presidential Election, Hillary Clinton And Donald Trump

It truly is a shame that a stigma is put upon anyone who “throws their vote away” by casting their ballot for a third party, for third parties offer an attractive alternative to the “cookie-cutter” positions of the Democratic and Republican parties. The sooner the American public realizes that voting for a third party or candidate not even in the election, the sooner the political climate of the United States becomes an overall better, more specialized, and tame

Carmela D’Amico of Salon.com writes a piece entitled “Enough of the ‘US vs. Them’ binary; Why I’m writing in Bernie Sanders on Election Day” in reference to the presidential election of 2016. In her article D’Amico captures her audience of potential voters with her opinion of the candidates and the overall election itself. D’Amico states that she does not belong to a political party henceforth declaring herself an independent. While keeping a light-hearted tone, D’Amico is able to stress the importance of voting not for the satisfaction of one’s party, but to satisfy the needs of this country. D’Amico states this as her purpose for writing in Bernie Sanders on Election Day as choosing from “the lesser of two evils” only restricts the freedom that we as Americans were given.

Today’s economy centers itself around the political parties today that are created with the intent of efficiently demonstrating the many shared opinions of thousands of individuals across the United States. Among them all, the two parties that attract the most attention are Democrats and Republicans who are often seen constantly creating tension among each other and campaigning/competing for political control in our country. But there are other parties such as third or minor parties whom are denied chances to express their views. These parties are considered minors in the increasingly competitive environment of the United States. From a public standpoint, minor/ third parties are considered less attractive because they are formed with the intent

One area for future analysis is the role of independents in the post-World War II shift in partisanship. We have for decades assumed that independents were either closeted partisans or that they were apathetic nonvoters (Dalton 2013). Recent research has suggested that there has been a shift in the structure of independent voters. There are the independents that fit the mold of how we traditionally saw independents called apoliticals. These independents have little knowledge about politics, don’t see politics as mattering to them, and are less likely to participate in politics by voting, giving money, or volunteering with a campaign than other members of the electorate. There has been a steady growth nationally since the 1950s in apartisans.

There are factors which do not influence party identity and which are independent on social grouping or cultural values. For several decades there have been little change at both aggregate and individual level on party identification. The state of economy and performance of the president does not change or determine party loyalty. However, party loyalties have a powerful influence on citizens' positions in key issues and voting decisions. The most important notion is that party identification is based mainly on identification with social grouping rather than on evaluation of party's ideology or policy. People ask themselves two questions: "What kind of social groups comes to my mind when I think about Republicans, Independents and Democrats? Which group best describes me?"

As the Presidential election primaries drew to an end, there was no doubt about who will represent the Democratic and Republican parties at the general election. Over the past several years, it has become fashionable in the beltway to deny the existence of Independents despite the increases in registered Independent voters and surveys finding record-high numbers of Americans now calling themselves Independents. Turned off by the partisan wars in Washington, 39 percent of voters now identify themselves as independent rather than affiliated with one of the two major political parties, according to a 2016 analysis by the Pew Research Center. At that point, 3rd party candidates started emerging and the support of 3rd party candidates like Evan McMullen was growing really fast because of the low favorability rate of both party nominees. At first glance, we could immediately conclude that

In a political atmosphere where it is easy to be grouped up in either conservative or liberal, it is harder to see such an easy split more and more each day. Non-traditional candidates are now emerging into the political arena that in prior elections would have been scoffed at. Whether we are talking about the unusually high polling Libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, the Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders or the Authoritarian Republican Nominee, Donald Trump, It is getting harder and harder to ignore the rise they are having. The two major political parties will have to adapt to these emerging ideologies or face the threat of the dreaded “third party”.

The first is that most of the third party groups are centered on one particular form of political ideology. The republican

A notion exists that the “independent voter” is also an independent thinker, researcher, and analyst - a voter not swayed by media and partisan politics; however, I propose that while voters may be successfully categorized, neither independent nor partisan voters are better informed than the other, this must be attributed individually and not categorically. “Independent” is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “not subject to authority or control; not depending on another…for one’s opinion; not belonging to or supported by a party” (Independent, 2002, p. 417). The problem with labelling a voter (or group of voters) with this term is that the label is most often a self-designation that sometimes has little to do with that word actually implies.

Despite being the constant underdog and loser in major elections third parties make some significant contribution to the political spectrum in the United States. Third Party Agendas are taken serious by the Democratic and Republican Parties and specific pieces of the Third Party Agendas are sometimes adopted by the two major parties. Third parties give discontented voters other alternatives. The Republican and Democratic Parties have been known to operate in similar styles and third parties give the voter the opportunity to express their discontent. The third parties in the United States are policy advocates and often are more specific about were they stand ideologically. Often the Republican and Democratic Parties try and take a moderate

Understanding the reason that individuals will break from the two-party mold is vital to understanding why third-party candidates continue to grow in influence. Harmon Rockler has conducted research in this area and has fond that there is a disillusionment with the main two-party system, that does not represent their beliefs. Driven partly by age, with the 18-34 year demographic more likely to vote for a third party, and 43% believe that there is no difference between the parties. Furthermore, that their vote is a vote against the primary party candidates, as opposed to a vote for a third party candidate. This shows that many voters have a dislike or distrust of the primary parties platforms or actions and have chosen to distance themselves from party affiliation. Since 2008, Independent voters have increased from 31%-39%, with both Republicans and Democrats losing 2%-3%, currently standing at 23% and 32%, respectively. This shift can be seen as a result of the increasing political partisanship and grid lock within the government.

Two political parties have dominated the United States: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The term “Third party” is used in the United States to describe any political party besides the well-known Republican and Democratic parties. Examples of third parties include the Libertarian Party, The Green Party, and the Constitutional Party. Unfortunately, these third parties have a hard time gaining political representation at the federal level. The historic route Democrats and Republicans trace back in the United States, the systematic influence of the Electoral College, financial contributions, and lack of media coverage all give a substantial reason as to why the newer third parties that emerged in the years after the major political parties have a hard time gaining political representation at the federal level.

One likely reoccurring ideology is that they don’t agree with either party platform or candidate. They do have the choice to either write in a person they deem qualified enough or to vote for a third-party candidate, however, the likelihood of those choices winning the presidency is slim. Another situation is if an individual is raised on the beliefs of the Republican or Democratic Party, but the presidential candidate for the party doesn’t uphold those beliefs then he/she may not want to vote for them. Due to them having a strong acceptance of their party, they will be less likely to switch their vote to the other party, which, in return, results in them not voting in the presidential

There are various factors that influence how a voter will cast their choice in the U.S. elections. Party identification is the most top factor in a person's voting choice. Some voters are members of either the two majors political parties; the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. These party affiliations are usually determined by a person's influences from family, peers, media and the assessment of the candidates and the issues. Independents who are not affiliated with either party does not have a particular loyalty to any party. They vote mainly on the issues (Schmidt, Shelley, Bardes, 2011, p.193).

Winston Churchill, the great Nobel Prize winning WWII leader once said, “anyone who was not a liberal at 20 years of age had no heart, while anyone who was still a liberal at 40 had no head.” With this statement in mind I will then focus on the age of the voters to evaluate voters party identification tendencies before and after the age of 40. I hypothesis that my findings will show that Churchill’s statement is true. My hypothesis is based on the education of the voter; with more years in the system I am assuming people will tend to vote for less government and less taxation, which the conservative Republican Party strives for. While the younger people will vote for more government and more taxes because of the amenities promised from them, which the liberal Democratic Party embodies. Political experience and simply an interest to be involved in voting plays a large part in my hypothesis as well. The Republican Party is based on a conservative platform, which means it holds value in traditions and conserving past tendencies. Changing with times is something the GOP is not known for thus they have been known to struggle in attempts to appeal to the younger generations immediately. The Democratic Party is based on a liberal platform; this means they are open to changing with time and open to new behavior or opinions while willing to