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Third Parties

Third Parties. POLS 125: Political Parties & Elections. “Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts.” —Eugene McCarthy. Political Ideology vs. Partisan Identification.

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Third Parties

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  1. Third Parties POLS 125: Political Parties & Elections “Saying we should keep the two-party system simply because it is working is like saying the Titanic voyage was a success because a few people survived on life rafts.” —Eugene McCarthy

  2. Political Ideology vs. Partisan Identification Percent responding Percent responding Extremely Liberal Moderate Extremely Conservative Strong Democrat Strong Republican Independent

  3. Trends in Partisan Identification, 1952-2008Including “Leaners” Is there room for a third party? Source: National Election Studies, various years.

  4. Barriers to Entry • Ballot access restrictions • Campaign finance laws • Media coverage • Presidential debates

  5. The “Spoiler” Effect

  6. Access to Presidential Debates The Commission on Presidential Debates selects candidates on the basis of the following criteria: • Evidence of Constitutional eligibility • Must be at 35 years of age; • Must be natural born citizen, and a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years; • Must be otherwise eligible under the Constitution; • Evidence of ballot access • The candidate must qualify to have his/her name appear on enough state ballots to have at least a mathematical chance of securing an Electoral College majority; • Indicators of Electoral support • The candidate must have a level or support of at least 15% of the national electorate as determined by five selected national public opinion polling organizations; Is this fair to third party and Independent candidates? Do we set the bar too high?

  7. The Iraq ballot offered a choice of 111 parties.

  8. Achieving an Optimal Result How can we best aggregate preferences to: • Determine a clear winner • Avoid “wasted” votes • Prevent “spoilers”

  9. IRV: An Alternative to Plurality Voting The plurality system used in U.S. elections allows voters to cast ballots only for their top choice. By ignoring how voters might rank the remaining candidates, it opens the door to unsettling, and even paradoxical results.

  10. Criticism of IRV • More complex • Requires new voting machinery • Voter fatigue Are reforms like this at odds with third parties? More parties could make it cumbersome and impractical.

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