Third parties and Independents in U.S. Elections
Drawing on the background materials, address the following prompts in a minimum of 250 words.
Why do minor political parties have such little success competing in U.S. elections? Short of winning elections, how do third parties have influence on the political system?Would you ever consider voting for an independent or a third party candidate? Why or why not?
Reminder: You will need to comment on at least one other student’s posting to complete the assignment.
Background Materials:
OpenStax American Government, Chapter 9
Maurice Duverger. “Factors in a Two-Party and Multiparty System.” (In Party Politics and Pressure Groups, 1972, pp. 23-32)
Jane Coaston, “How the Libertarian Party (maybe) helped shift the presidential race. (Links to an external site.)” (Vox, November 2020).
Stuart Rothenberg, “How third-party votes sunk Clinton, what they mean for Trump”. (Roll Call, July 2019).
-https://openstax.org/books/american-government-2e/pages/9-introduction
-http://janda.org/c24/Readings/Duverger/Duverger.htm
-https://www.vox.com/21561230/libertarian-party-third-party-2020-election
-https://www.rollcall.com/2019/07/29/how-third-party-votes-sunk-clinton-what-they-mean-for-trump/
