1. Minor Parties
3rd Parties

2. Types of Minor Parties Ideological Parties Single-Issue Parties
Economic Parties
Splinter Parties

3. Dana Carvey (SNL) as Ross Perot

4. Ideological Parties
Party bases on a particular set of beliefs on political issues to include social and economic issues
Examples:
Socialist Party
Socialist Workers Party
Communist Party
Libertarian Party
Green Party

5. Single-Issue Parties
Party that focuses on one public policy issue. Usually the party name is that issue.
Examples:
Free Soil Party ( ) Prevent the spread of slavery
Know Nothing Party (1856) Oppose immigration
Prohibition Party (1869-P) Ban the sale of liquor
Women’s Party ( ) Females the right to vote

6. Economic Parties
Usually bases in certain region, especially for farmers, based on protesting depressed or bad economic conditions
Examples:
Greenback Party ( )
Populist Party ( )

7. Splinter Parties
Party that split away from on of the major parties. Usually formed around a strong personality who failed to win his major party’s Presidential nomination
Examples:
Bull Moose Progressive Party (1912) R
States’ Rights “Dixiecrat” Party (1948) D
Henry Wallace Progressive Party (1948) D
Reform Party (Ross Perot) R/D

8. The Role of Minor Parties
Bring issues or problems to public attention
Alternative to the two major parties
“Spoiler Role” cost one of the major party candidates to loose the election (pulling votes away)
2008 Presidential Ballot
President and Vice President
Green
Cynthia McKinney / Rosa Clemente
Republican
John McCain / Sarah Palin
Libertarian
Bob Barr / Wayne A Root
Petition
Ralph Nader / Matt Gonzalez
Democratic
Barack Obama / Joe Biden
Constitution
Chuck Baldwin / Darrell Castle

9. Why 3rd Parties Fail
Electoral College (Winner Take All) Winner of the State popular vote, wins all of that states electoral votes. Looser gets no electoral vote. National popular vote does not reflect the electoral votes
Requires huge sums of money to run for political office
Most Americans fall under the ideological blanket of the Democrat or Republican party
U.S. political systems designed only to support two major political parties

10. Bush: 50,455,
Gore: 50,992,
Nader: 2,882,897 0

11. Clinton: 44,857,
Bush: 39,798,
Perot: 19,722,042 0

12. George Wallace (46 Electoral Votes)