POLITICAL PARTIES (THIRD PARTIES)

REMEMBER WHAT A POLITICAL PARTY IS? A group of citizens with similar views on public issues who work to put their ideas into effective government action. Political parties try to convince other voters to elect candidates that support the party’s ideas. Name one thing Democrats stand for? Name one thing Republicans stand for?

POLITICAL SPECTRUM

RECAP OF DEMOCRATS Democrats are more liberal. They tend to favor: More FEDERAL government Social Programs (Food Stamps, Medicare, Welfare) Stronger government regulation in businesses

RECAP OF REPUBLICANS Republicans are more conservative. They tend to favor: Less FEDERAL government More freedom in businesses and society (by government staying OUT) Less taxes and less government programs (Let people take care of people)

BUT WAIT…THERE’S MORE! Even though the United States is a two-party system, that doesn’t mean we don’t have OTHER political parties. That’s what a THIRD PARTY is: a minor political party in a two-party system. Think of it like this: Say the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees are playing against the Tennessee Smokies…Two MLB teams playing a Minor Leaguer? Those Smokies don’t stand a chance! In fact, we have a TON! Unfortunately for them, they just don’t carry the weight that Democrats or Republicans do, so it is almost impossible to be elected to big name positions like Congress or the Presidency.

BUT JUST BECAUSE THEY FIND IT HARD TO BE ELECTED… …Doesn’t mean they don’t matter! Oftentimes, third parties greatly influence national politics, even though their candidate doesn’t win.

BUT HOW? Well, for starters, third parties can completely change the outcome of an election by taking votes from Democrats or Republicans. For example, in 1992, Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George Bush ran against in each other in a presidential race. Ross Perot also ran – as a third party Independent. Ross Perot had the strongest showing of a third party since 1912! And won 19% of the vote. Republicans split the vote between George Bush and Ross Perot and because of this, many people believe this cost Bush the election. What do you think? How do you think the outcome would have been different had Ross Perot NOT run?

THERE’S MORE! Third parties can also propose important ideas. For example, in the 1800’s, a group of people who favored issues such as a graduated income tax, an eight-hour workday, and immigration reform formed what was known as the Populist Party. One of the Populist ideas was the election of U.S. senators directly. Even though the Populist party never made it into big time government positions, the Democrats and Republicans took their ideas and ran with them, passing several of the proposals. One of which was the Seventeenth Amendment – this changed the method of electing U.S. senators.

SO WHAT ARE A FEW THIRD PARTIES? We will be talking about 3: The Libertarians The Communists The Socialists

LIBERTARIANS Libertarians believe in personal freedom while still maintaining personal responsibility. They don’t believe the government (or anyone else) should dictate and decide how another person lives. They STRONGLY appose ANY government interference in their person lives, families, and businesses.

COMMUNIST People who belong to the communist party believe that EVERYTHING (that includes all property and resources of a country) should be held in common. They want all the property and resources to belong to the state (the government) who then distributes it to people based on “need.” Think of it like a family. Mom and Dad are in complete control of the money and house (resources and property) and they hand it out to YOU on an as needed basis.

SOCIALIST Socialism shares many similarities with communism, however, they are two distinct parties. Those who belong to a socialist party also want resources to be owned by the state (government), however, they distribute resources based on “amount of work” rather than their communist counterparts who do so based on “need.” They believe that the wealthy, because they own companies that make a lot of money, can exploit their workers. In order to stop that from happening, Socialists want those companies to be owned by the state.