Why do people join 3rd parties

Question

Political science

Answer 1

Assuming we're talking about a two-party system in a winner-takes-all electoral system, people join/vote/support third parties for the following reasons:

1. The two major parties are not responsive to voter needs, whether through their politicians, platforms, or political priorities. Some historical examples: Reform Party, Progressive Party, Populist Party, Socialist Party.
2. A third party's platform aligns with a voter's preferences more than either major party.
3. A voter might vote for a third party as a "protest vote," meaning that under circumstances where the voter is displeased with both major parties, a voter will seriously consider voting for a third party to either send a message of non-support to both major parties or to force a change in one of the major parties by depriving that party of votes.

Answer 2

There are academic and historical answers to this question. Institutionally speaking we have what is called a presidential system of government as opposed to a parliamentary system of government and our government is constitutionally set up to work best in a winner takes all system of voting. Personally I like the parliamentary structure that you see in places like England, Germany Italy etc, where representatives are elected proportionally. In parliamentary systems it's possible to have multiple parties like the green party and the socialist party etc. When the progressive party gets 30% of the votes, it gets 30% of the legislative seats. And when the Tory party or conservative party gets 20% of the votes then they get 20% of Parliamentary seats. Some problems with that system, though, include too many political parties and confusion and inability to agree to pass legislation. Some countries have many political parties. Next up I will give you a more academic answer that's based on history.

Answer 3

I cannot give you an academic answer on this. But I can tell you what people say when they are discussing these issues. Many people have very strong opinions one way or the other. Mainly, very conservative or very liberal. Then many other people have opinions that line up with one of these choices enough to choose one of the parties.

 

Then there are people who are so tired of both of the parties. They might choose a third party just out of exasperation with the main two.

 

In America we have Democratic and Republican....liberal and conservative. We also have some third parties such as Independent, Progressive, and some lesser known ones.

 

People who have gotten so fed up with the status quo, they realize that behind the scenes, both Democrats and Republican officials are either playing the same game or else they are fighting each other with neither party doing any good for anyone. So they vote for a 3rd party.

 

As more and more people choose a 3rd party, hopefully it will "send a message" to the status quo politicians and possibly (though not likely), those politicians will listen and start making changes in the interest of the good of the country.

 

 

(This is just from listening to people talk. I don't tutor this subject and have never studied it beyond high school classes. Everything I typed came from listening to people from different parties and viewpoints argue and discuss. Mostly from listening while I ate Thanksgiving Dinner)