1. Which of the following would you prefer: a two-party system (we currently have this) or a multiparty system (3 or more parties in the legislature)? Explain your preference.

2. Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Objective: Students will be able to analyze the role of third parties in American politics and compare multi-party systems to the American two-party system.
Purpose: Third parties have almost no chance of winning any major positions in government, yet they still have influence over politics.

4. Multiparty Systems
The various parties are each based on a particular interest, for example on economic class, religious belief, sectional attachment, or political ideology
Multiparty systems do tend to produce a broader, more diverse representation of the electorate, but governments tend to be less stable
The power to govern is often shared by a number of parties in a coalition

6. The pie chart shows the percentage of the popular vote each party garnered in the 2012 presidential election. Did the minor parties affect the election results? Explain.

7. Importance of Third Parties
They have influenced how some things are done by parties and have developed creative solutions
Example: Anti-Masonic Party was the first to use a national convention in to nominate their candidate for President
Spoiler role: a third party candidate can still pull enough support away from one of the major parties to affect the outcome of the election
Examples: Roosevelt in 1912, Perot in 1992, Nader in 2000

8. Third-party votes in the 2000 presidential election may have affected the outcome. If all third party votes had gone to Al Gore, how would these percentages been different?

9. Disadvantages of Third Parties
If their main leader leaves the party, support for that party ends
Ballot access is not guaranteed
They are unable to attract big time donors to financially compete with the Republicans and Democrats
The single-member district and winner take all aspects of our electoral system do not favor third parties

10. Types of Third Parties
Ideological Parties: based on a particular set of beliefs
Examples: Constitution Party, Socialist Party, American Independent Party
Libertarian Party
Most popular third party
emphasizes individual freedom, elimination of income taxes, and significantly reducing the size of the government

11. Types of Third Parties Green Party
Main focus is environmental protection
Now includes issues such as universal healthcare, campaign finance reform, and limits on corporate power in the party platform
Greatest Success: Presidential Election (Ralph Nader won 2.74% of the popular vote)

12. Types of Third Parties
Single-Issue Parties: parties that focus on a single public question
Economic protest parties
Splinter Parties: parties that have split away from one of the major parties

13. Part of the collage, “The Race for the White House,” showed Theodore Roosevelt riding a bull moose. The complete image included William Taft on an elephant and Woodrow Wilson on a donkey.

14. Minor parties have sometimes had a significant impact on presidential elections. Using the data in the chart, which of these minor parties may have changed election results?

15. Political Party Survey
Go to the following website:
Try to choose one of the options listed under the “other stances” choice
After you click “Show My Results”, raise your hand so I can see that you have completed the survey.