1. The American Two-Party System
Why 3rd Parties Fail

2. Today in Class Take out your Rubric and do the self evaluation
Take out a sheet of paper and number 1-14
Read the article on your desk and relate back to the 3rd Parties

3. Reasons why America has a two party system
Consensus on Core Issues
Single member districts
Winner-take-all system
Legal barriers to 3rd Parties
The Force of Historic Tradition
3rd Parties excluded from debates
Raising campaign funds ($)
Barriers or Obstacles to 3rd Parties (Why 3rd Parties Fail)

4. Consensus on Core Political Issues
Americans share a strong commitment to a group of core values: freedom/liberty, political equality, individualism, equality under the law
Most Americans fall under the “umbrella” of the conservative and liberal ideology and call themselves moderates (between the two)

5. Single member districts
Most American elections are held in single-member districts, in which only one candidate is elected to each office
Candidate who receives the most votes (Plurality) is the winner (difference between a plurality election and majority election)

6. Winner-take-all system
Many other countries, political seats (offices) are awarded to parties that come in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th place that still win votes. (not in the United States)
Example: If one state had 10 legislative seats in Congress, and a party wins 20% of the vote, that party would win 2 Congressional seats in Congress
In the United States, the winner of the plurality (highest number of votes) wins.
No political seats awarded for 2nd place in the U.S.
Winner-take-all system of the electoral college. The winner of a state’s popular vote (plurality) wins all of that state’s electoral votes for President (Example: 1992 Presidential election…Ross Perot)

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

8. Legal barriers to 3rd Parties
The names of Democratic and Republican candidates are automatically place on state ballots in most states
In contrast, minor party candidates must persuade registered voters to sign petitions in order to have their names placed on the ballot

9. The Force of Historic Tradition
America has had a two-party system since 1800
Our two-party system has generated self-perpetuating laws and traditions
Today, most educated Americans have learned the political ideology and goals of the two major parties and have grown comfortable with them

10. 3rd Party Candidates are excluded from Presidential Debates
Many Presidential debates are organized and held by private organizations and groups (such as the league of women voters)
These private groups can invite and exclude whoever they choose (many minor party candidates get left out)
2008

11. Raising Money
Both the Republican and Democratic parties do an excellent job of raising money for their candidates
The two major parties have a detailed network and large organization to raise money
Most people only donate money to the two major parties (safe bet)
Minor parties (3rd parties) have a difficult time raising money for their campaign

12. Presidential Campaign Spending in 2008
Candidate (Party)
Amount raised
Amount spent
Votes
Average spent per vote
Barack Obama (D)
$778,642,962
$760,370,195
69,498,215
$10.94
John McCain (R)
$383,913,834
$358,008,447
59,948,240
$5.97
Ralph Nader (I)
$4,496,180
$4,187,628
738,720
$5.67
Bob Barr (L)
$1,383,681
$1,345,202
523,713
$2.57
Chuck Baldwin (C)
$261,673
$234,309
199,437
$1.17
Cynthia McKinney (G)
$240,130
$238,968
161,680
$1.48
Excludes spending by independent expenditure concerns. Source: Federal Election Commission[1]

13. Questions?