The Minor PartiesSacUOD PravlawOBJECTIVES WHY IT MATTERS POLITICAL

DICTIONARY1. Identify the types of minor parties thathave been active in American politics.

2. Understand why minor parties areimportant despite the fact that nonehas ever won the presidency.

Many minor parties have beenactive in American politics. Theyprovide alternatives to the positionsof the major parties, and sometimeshave affected particular electionsand shaped public policies.

* ideological parties* single-issue parties* economic protest parties* splinter parties

L."ibertarian, Reform, Socialist, Prohibition,'" Natural Law, Communist, American

Independent, Green, Constitution-these areonly some of the many parties that fielded presi-dential candidates for 2000. You know that noneof these parties or their candidates had any realchance of winning. But this is not to say thatminor parties are unimportant. The bright lightcreated by the two major parties too often blindsus to the vital role several minor parties haveplayed in American politics.

a single State, and some to one region of thecountry. Still others have tried to woo the entirenation. Most have been short-lived, but a fewhave existed for decades. And, while most havelived mothlike around the flame of a single idea,some have had a broader, more practical base.

Still, four distinct types of minor parties canbe identified:

1. The ideological parties are those based on aparticular set of beliefs-a comprehensive viewof social, economic, and political matters. Mostof these minor parties have been built on someshade of Marxist thought; examples include theSocialist, Socialist Labor, Socialist Worker, andCommunist parties.

A few ideological parties have had a quite dif-ferent approach, however-especially theLibertarian Party of today, which emphasizesindividualism and calls for doing away with mostof government's present functions and programs.The ideological parties have seldom been able towin many votes. As a rule, however, they havebeen long-lived.

2. The single-issue parties focus on only onepublic-policy matter. Their names have usuallyindicated their primary concern. For example,the Free Soil Party opposed the spread of slaveryin the 1840s and 1850s; the American Party,also called the "Know Nothings," opposedIrish-Catholic immigration in the 1850s; and theRight to Life Party opposes abortion today .

Most of the single-issue parties have fadedinto history. They died away as events have

Minor Parties in the United StatesTheir number and variety make minor partiesdifficult to describe and classify. Some have lim-ited their efforts to a particular locale, others to

RalphNader

2000

NATURAL:*~** LAW\ * ~ '~.** PARTY

Leadership for theNe,,\<' Millellnium .•. These are just two of

the active minor parties inthe United States,

t'Dl132 Chapter 5 Section 4

Four Types of Minor Parties

Ideological Party •.•.••.•Vote 1.

Our Party 13e ieves ...

Interpreting Charts (a) According to the chart, which type of minor party is the most closelyrelated to a major party? (b) Which type is likely to be the most cohesive and united?

passed them by, as their themes have failed toattract voters, or as one or both of the majorparties have taken their key issues as their own.

3. The economic protest parties have beenrooted in periods of economic discontent. Unlikethe socialist parties, these groups have not hadany clear-cut ideological base. Rather, they haveproclaimed their disgust with the major partiesand demanded better times, and have focusedtheir anger on such real or imagined enemies asthe monetary system, "Wall Street bankers,"the railroads, or foreign imports.

Most often, they have been sectional parties,drawing their strength from the agriculturalSouth and West. The Greenback Party, forexample, tried to take advantage of agrariandiscontent from 1876 through 1884. It appealedto struggling farmers by calling for the freecoinage of silver, federal regulation of the rail-roads, an income tax, and labor legislation. Adescendant of the Greenbacks, the PopulistParty of the 1890s also demanded public own-ership of railroads, telephone and telegraph

companies, lower tariffs, and the adoption ofthe initiative and referendum.

Each of these economic protest parties has dis-appeared as the nation has climbed out of the dif-ficult economic period in which that party arose.

4. Splinter parties are those that have splitaway from one of the major parties. Most of themore important minor parties in our politicshave been splinter parties. Among the leadinggroups that have split away from theRepublicans are Theodore Roosevelt's "BullMoose" Progressive Party of 1912, and RobertLa Follette's Progressive Party of 1924. From theDemocrats have come Henry Wallace'sProgressive Party and the States' Rights(Dixiecrat) Party, both of 1948, and GeorgeWallace's American Independent Party of 1968.

Most splinter parties have formed around astrong personality-most often someone whohas failed to win his major party's presidentialnomination. These parties have faded or col-lapsed when that leader has stepped aside. Thus,the Bull Moose Progressive Party passed away

Political Parties 133 r.'ED

when Theodore Roosevelt returned to theRepublican fold after the election of 1912.Similarly, the American Independent Party lostnearly all of its brief strength when GovernorGeorge Wallace rejoined the Democrats after hisstrong showing in the 1968 election.

The Green Party, founded in 1996, pointsup the difficulties of classifying minor parties inAmerican politics. The Greens began as a clas-sic single-issue party but, as the party hasevolved, it simply will not fit into any of thecategories set out here. The Green Party cameto prominence in 2000, when it picked RalphNader as its presidential nominee. Nader'scampaign was built around a smorgasbord ofissues-environmental protection, of course,but also universal health care, gay and lesbianrights, restraints on corporate power, campaignfinance reform, opposition to global free trade,and much more.

Why Minor Parties Are ImportantEven though most Americans do not supportthem, minor parties have still had an impact onAmerican politics and on the major parties.

For example, it was a minor party, the Anti-Masons, that first used a national convention tonominate a presidential candidate in 1831. TheWhigs and then the Democrats followed suit ih1832. Ever since, national conventions havebeen used by both the Democrats and theRepublicans to pick their presidential tickets.

Minor parties can have an impact in anotherway. A strong third-party candidacy can playadecisive role-often a "spoiler role"-in anelection. Even if a minor party does not winany electoral votes, it can pull votes from oneof the major parties, as the Green Party did in2000. This spoiler effect can be felt in national,State, or local contests, especially where the twomajor parties compete on roughly equal terms.

The 1912 election dramatically illustrated thispoint. A split in the Republican Party andRoosevelt's resulting third-party candidacy pro-duced the results shown below. Almost certainly,had Roosevelt not quit the Republican Party, Taftwould have enjoyed a better showing, and Wilsonwould not have become President.

Historically, however, the minor parties havebeen most important in their roles of critic andinnovator. Unlike the major parties, the minor

The 1912 Presidential Election

Popular Vote6,296,54741.87%

The nickname forthe Progressiveswas the BullMoose Party.

ElectoralVote88

Popular Vote3,486,72023.19%

Popular Vote900,672

5.9%

~

=...,

..•..••.'C""~.'. Electoral•..•• ..•. Vote.••.•. '. 0

Popular Vote206,2751.37% Electoral

~ V~te

ElectoralVote8

William H. TaftRepublican

Eugene V. DebsSocialist

Eugene ChafinProhibition

Interpreting Graphs This bar graph shows the votes received by the major and the minor parties in1912. (a) Which party "came in second"? (b) Even though the Bull Moose Progressives were aminor party, how did they help determine which major party won the election?

'a'fl134 Chapter 5 Section 4

- --

Significant Minor Parties in PresidentialElections, 1880-2000*

parties have been ready, willing, andable to take quite clear-cut stands oncontroversial issues. Minor-partystands have often drawn attention tosome issue that the major parties havepreferred to ignore or straddle.

Over the years, many of the moreimportant issues of American politicswere first brought to the public'sattention by a minor party. Examplesinclude the progressive income tax,woman suffrage, railroad and bank-ing regulation, and old-age pensions.

Oddly enough, this very importantinnovator role of the minor parties hasalso been a major source of their frus-tration. When their proposals havegained any real degree of popular sup-port, one and sometimes both of themajor parties have taken over theseideas and then presented the policies astheir own. The late Norman Thomas,who was the Socialist Party's candi-date for President six times, com-plained that "the major parties arestealing from my platform."

Minor parties continue to be activetoday. The presidential nominees ofmore than 20 minor parties made it to theballots of at least one State in 2000. At leastthat many will likely do so in the year 2004.In 2000 the most visible minor-party presi-dential campaigns were those of the Reform,

Year Party Candidate % PopularVote3.362.198.542.192.982.82

27.395.993.173.45

16.612.222.412.37

13.538.53.0

ElectoralVote

GreenbackProhibitionPopulistProhibitionSocialistSocialistProgressive (Bull Moose)SocialistSocialistSocialistProgressiveSocialistStates' Rights (Dixiecrat)ProgressiveAmerican IndependentReformGreen

188018881892

James B. WeaverClinton B. FiskJames B. WeaverJohn BidwellEugene V. DebsEugene V. DebsTheodore RooseveltEugene V.DebsAllan L. BensonEugene V. DebsRobert M. La FolletteNorman M. ThomasStrom ThurmondHenry A. WallaceGeorge C.WallaceRoss PerotRalph Nader

22

190419081912 88

19161920192419321948

13

39

196819962000

46

'Includes all minor parties that polled at least 2% of the popular voteSource: Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970; the Gallup Organization

Interpreting Tables (a) Which minor party received the most electoral votes inan election? (b) Which other parties received enough support to influence anelection? Explain.

Libertarian, Natural Law, Constitution,Socialist, Prohibition, and Green parties. Morethan a thousand candidates from a wide varietyof minor parties also sought seats in Congressor ran for various State and local offices.

SectiDn "4" Assess•• nt ,Key Tenns and Main Ideas1. Why do single-issue parties tend to be short -lived?2. (a) What are economic protest parties? (b) Why are they

formed in times of economic distress?3. Most of the more important minor parties in our history have

been of which type? Explain the effect of one such party.4. Why is the innovator role a source of frustration to minor

parties?

Critical Thinking5. Expressing Problems Clearly Suppose you are considering

voting for a presidential candidate from a minor party. Explainthe benefits and drawbacks of casting your vote that way.

6. Predicting Consequences Minor parties usually are willingto take definite stands on controversial issues. How mightvoters react to this tendency?

la~Take It to the Net

7. Locate the Web site for one of the following minor parties:Reform, Libertarian, Natural Law, Constitution, Socialist,Prohibition, Green. Make an outline of the major issues onwhich the party ran in the most recent presidential elec-tion or in a previous election. Use the links provided in theSocial Studies area at the following Web site for help incompleting this activity. www.phschool.com

Political Parties 135tlm

~=~~CLOSEUPFOUNDATION

Green Party GoalsRalph Nader accepted the presidential nomination of the Green Party on June 25,2000. In his speech that day he laid out the goals of his party and encouraged allcitizens who desire change to support his campaign.

On behalf of all Americans whoseek a new direction, whoyearn for a new birth of free-

dom to build the just society, whosee justice as the great work ofhuman beings on Earth, who under-stand that community and humanfulfillment are mutually reinforcing,who respect the urgent necessity towage peace, to protect the environ-ment, to end poverty and to pre-serve values of the spirit for futuregenerations, who wish to build a deep democracyby working hard for a regenerative progressivepolitics, as if people mattered-to all these citizensand the Green vanguard, I welcome and am hon-ored to accept the Green Party nomination forPresident of the United States.

The Green Party stands for a nation and a worldthat consciously advances the practice of deepdemocracy. A deep democracy facilitates people'sbest efforts to achieve social justice, a sustainableand bountiful environment and an end to systemicbigotry and discrimination against law-abidingpeople merely because they are different. Greengoals place community and self-reliance overdependency on ever larger absentee corporationsand their media, their technology, their capital, andtheir politicians. Green goals aim at preserving thecommonwealth of assets that the people of theUnited States already own so that the people, notbig business, control what they own, and usingthese vast resources of the public lands, the publicairwaves, and trillions of worker pension dollars to

Imrl136 Chapter 5

achieve healthier environments,healthier communities, and healthierpeople ....

To the youth of America, I say,beware of being trivialized by thecommercial culture that tempts youdaily. I hear you saying often thatyou're not turned on to politics. Thelessons of history are clear and por-tentous. If you do not turn on topolitics, politics will turn on you.The fact that we have so many

inequalities demonstrates this point. Democracyresponds to hands-on participation. And to ener-gized imagination. That's its essence. We need theyoung people of America to move into leadershippositions to shape their future as part of this cam-paign for a just society. Let's prepare to take thepoliticians and the lobbyists on a tour of thePeople's America ....

With a new progressive movement, we the peo-ple have the ability to vastly improve our lives andto help shape the world's course to one of justiceand peace for years to come.

Ralph Nader

Analyzing Primary Sources1. What are the goals of the Green Party?2. Do you think that a third party like the Green Party

could win the presidency? Why or why not?3. Would you label this speech propaganda? Why or

why not?