Third Parties in the U.S.

Political parties are among the most researched yet elusive political institutions in the United States. Parties are not sanctioned in the U.S. Constitution as legitimate institutions of government, yet they have become a centerpiece of political life. In Western Europe parties perform rather obvious functions in government. European parties are most distinctive as cadre organizations in which due-paying members, staff, candidates and officeholders often interact in a face-to-face setting. The party-in-organization can be a powerful institution in promoting candidacies and disciplining its member and officeholders. They tend to represent definable socioeconomic groups whose members actively support party activities. Furthermore, in their role as agents of definable constituencies with conflicting interests, European parties tend to profess sharply distinguishable ideological programs and may be multiple in number as opposing groups compete for representation.

American parties are very different. With few exceptions, no more than two parties have dominated the political landscape throughout most of American histo

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rgate did not mean the demise of the Republican Party as some speculated; the 1980 ôReagan Revolutionö was not the precursor of a Republican U.S. House of Representatives in the next election as many Republicans believed in 1981; and the 1981-1982 recession did not mean a Democrat President in 1984. History can be quite perverse. In terms of the success of third parties, a consistent feature of a short term tide is that it pushes virtually all groups in the same partisan direction. Much is made of differences in subgroup voting, sometimes too much. With some exceptions, U.S. voters do not fall into true voting blocs the way voters do in many European countries. The outcomes of our elections usually can be explained by common perceptions, no matter what the subgroup. Watergate (1974) was a national disgrace, and so was the holding of American hostages (1980) in Iran for 444 days. Double-digit inflation (1980) and double digit unemployment (1982) were intolerable. All Americans shared or begrudgingly felt these sentiments. All subgroups do not reach the same majority decision, of course. Different groups have different degrees of built-in biases that resist a trend, but the groups rarely move in different directions in
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Lazarsfeld Watternbeg, System AmericanÆs, White House, Western Europe, Democrat President, Civil War, Parties Anther, , Ross Perot, Electoral Behavior, third party, voting behavior, third parties, short term, wattenberg 1991, electoral behavior, two-party system, times voters, party affiliation, short term issues, ross perot, 1992 presidential election,
Approximate Word count = 1623
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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