United States Voting System

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

In order to participate in major elections, third parties must first overcome a myriad of obstacles that have been put in place by both the founding fathers and politicians of our current two-party system. Rosenstone and his colleagues contend that the most important barrier in place to discourage the success of third parties is the plurality single-member districts that are the cornerstone of the American electoral process. Not only do single-member districts elect only one member to higher office, but they also allow such elections to occur without an electoral majority. If voters know that a third party is unlikely to receive a substantial amount of votes, they may believe a vote for the party would be a wasted vote. This requirement for a plurality of votes is especially detrimental for a third party presidential campaign, due to the fact that the Electoral College distributes electoral votes to the winner of each statewide vote (excluding Nebraska and Maine), and the only plausible way for a third party candidate to receive any electoral votes is to be extremely popular in a certain region of the United States. Unlike the two major

It is defined as a system where two major political parties dominate voting at nearly all elections that take place and the elected members form part of either party. The two major Parties in America are the Democrats and Republicans. The arrangement is such that all the parties who are elected form part of wither parties and it is very rare that a third party win any seat in the legislature. There are three types of third parties. These are the single issue, the candidate driven and the ideological. The single issue is made up of the peace and freedom and the independent party. The candidate driven is built up of the reform, Bull Moose and the green. The libertarian and socialist form part of the ideological party.

Third parties fail to achieve electoral victories and representation in modern American politics have been because of the structure of the types of the elections, the ballot rules, and the debate rules. Even if the third parties have equal standards, views, resources, etc., lacking in popularity and significance within the government may increase the chance of not being able to represent in politics. “In order to appreciate the reasons for the Electoral College, it is essential to understand its historical context and the problem that the Founding Fathers were trying to solve.” (Kimberling) In the nation, the political parties brought up concerns and questioning of how electing a president with no such political parties would be possible

The way that the citizens of the US can swing the votes of others id by having a third party. Third parties can have a negative or positive affect depending on which side you are on. Like in the 20044 election the green party's candidate Ralph Nader affected the democrats in the most negative way. He took the attention off of the democrats candidate and the votes went George W. Bush after a series of recounts (DOC #6). This is just another way just how confusing and how twisted ones vote could get due to the how the electoral court

It’s interesting to notice that in those four disputed elections of 1800, 1824, 1876 and 1960, the winner of the popular vote didn’t become President because they weren’t the winners of the Electoral College votes. The first two instances were mainly due to an unorganized system because of the early establishment. However, there is a recurring pattern in the later elections.

Proponents further dispute that the Electoral College is a chief factor in contributing to the political stability of the nation by promoting a two party system. This is simply true because it is extremely complicated for a new or minor party to win enough popular votes in a sufficient amount of States to have a chance of winning the presidency. The realistic effect of the Electoral College is to practically force third party movements into one of the two major political parties. In this method of integration, third party movements are obliged to compromise their more fanatic ideas in order to stand a fighting chance against the two main parties in elections. Third parties should be considered just as big of a contender in elections as the

In a presidential election, the popular vote means a total of all votes taken from all the states in the United States of America. It is possible for a candidate to win the popular vote by getting the most votes overall but still lose the presidential election. That is because while Americans vote directly for their presidential choice, the president is elected through a system called the Electoral College. While many people view the extra steps unnecessary, the process of going through the Electoral College system of voting is better for the country.

Third parties include all of the minor political parties in a country. Currently in America, for example, that includes all the parties that are not the Republican or Democratic party, which are the Green Party, Libertarian Party, Prohibition Party, etc. Although the America’s winner-take-all system and electoral college primary election system prevents third parties in winning general elections and causes them to be limited to the local levels, they still are very important in the country. They serve a variety of functions, such as presenting and emphasizing new ideas to debate and serving as a precaution in case popular discontent. Third parties are either splinter parties, which branch out of

From my studies in Political Science it is not hard to understand that the United States political system is dominated by two political parties; the Republican Party, and the Democratic party. This is known as a two-party system, the definition of a two party name is evident from the name. A two party system functions on two parties, much like United States politics this is confusing because more than two parties are allowed to compete in elections. In America, any party outside of Democrats or Republicans is referred to a “Third Party”. My research paper will focus around one of the third parties, The Libertarian party. This paper will set up necessary knowledge through an exploration of the ideals of the party, and where

America is vastly known as a country boundlessly pursuing equality in all facets of life. In this seemingly endless quest for equal opportunity, there has been one lurking negation; our election system. The addition to equal representation in public funding and on the ballot will create variability and allow Americans to entrust their vote in a political format that more closely aligns with democratic philosophy. Therefore, a shift away from a bipartisan, a two party, dominated election system would not only be a healthy change for American electoral satisfaction, but for the future of third party politics. Unfortunately affluence and inherent wealth have played a large role in this divide between a true democratic election and our present biased, broken, and benyne system.

Political parties dictating American presidential elections since almost the beginning. In his farewell address George Washington warned against the use of political parties. The two greatest parties are the Republican and Democrat,what most Americans don't know is that there are several other minor parties who usually just get absorbed into the two bigger parties. Regardless if you are a major or minor party you having a platform of ideas that they follow. The Constitution Party was started in 1992 with the thought of following in the footsteps of our founding fathers and following the Constitution.

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

The parties formed after the Constitution was adopted as the need to systematically search for and encourage popular support became apparent. The structure of a party allows a group of like-minded politicians to mold popular support in the favor of the candidate of their choice where alone they could only accomplish the creation of multiple less organized and therefore less politically potent factions. The nature of the political system already in place gave no value to coming in second or third in elections at any level of government, leading to the natural growth of two strong parties who battle for supremacy at every election (July 22). The winner takes all, and the opposition spends their time getting ready to try again as they wait for their next chance. Once the two parties, Democrat and Republican, were firmly settled in to the system they affected legislation to give themselves automatic ballot access and state funding, making election that much harder for other parties and thereby ensuring that it remained a two party system (July 22).

Very few people argue the importance of third parties in the United States. Since 1840, Third parties have captured over 5% of the popular vote in a third of elections and have won 10% of popular vote in one out of five elections (McDaniel, 2015). Without third parties, majority of votes would be a necessity; these third parties have made it possible for over a dozen presidents to be elected without the majority of popular vote (McDaniel, 2015).