Third Party Movements

1
Third Party Movements

• American Political Parties
• Prof. Wolbrecht
• 22 April 2009

2
Third Parties Matter

• Source of policy innovations
• Influence on platforms of major parties
• Outlets for political discontent
• Spoilers
• Third parties deny popular vote majority
• 1984 Reagan 58.8
• 1988 Bush 53.4
• 1992 Clinton 43.3 (Bush 37.7, Perot 19)
• 1996 Clinton 50 (Dole 42, Perot 8)
• 2000 Bush 47.9 (Gore 48.4, Nader 2.7)
• 2004 Bush 50.7
• 2008 Obama 53

3
19th Century Third Parties

• Know-Nothings (1850s)
• Prohibition party (1872-present)
• Peoples Party / Populists (1890s)

4
20th Century Third Parties

• More splinter parties and independent candidates
  than real third party movements
• Declining strength

Source Schlesinger, Joseph A. 1984. On the
Theory of Party Organization. Journal of
Politics 46(May)369-400.
5
20th Century Third Parties

• Teddy Roosevelt / Bull Moose (1912)
• Robert LaFollette / Progressives (1924)
• Strom Thurmond / Dixiecrats (1948)
• George Wallace (1968)
• John Anderson (1980)
• Ross Perot (1992 and 1996)
• Ralph Nader / Greens (2000, 2004, 2008)