PARTY TIME (Political,ThatIs)
Signifi cant Third Parties
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Anti-Mason Party (1827-1836): built on the fear that the Masons and other secret
societiesposed atfueat to democracy;carriedVermont in the 1832pres.election
Liberty Party (1839-1848): formed solely to supportabolition; their candidate
drew votes away from Sen.Henry Clay in 1844,possibly costing him the election
Free Soil Party (1847-1854): an abolitionistparty which opposedthe expansion
of slavery into new territories; a precursorto the RepublicanParty
American Party (1849-1860): nicknamedthe Know-Nothings;a nativist (antiimmigrant and anti-Catholic group; electedhalf a dozengovernorsin the 1850s
Constitutional Union Party and the SouthernDemocratic Party (1860): two
splinter groupswhich formed in responseto the crisis over slavery; Southern
Democratssplit from the national party while the Constitutional Unionists
advocatedunion at any cost; both parties won statesin 1860but Lincoln won
People'sParty (1891-1903): alsoknown as the Populists,this group supported
direct election of senators,opposedmonopolies,and demandedthe free coinage
of silver (alongsidegold); strongly influential on the Democratic Party; the
Populists also electedgovernorsin a dozenstatesin the 1890s
SocialistParty (1901- ): classicsocialismin the WesternEuropeanmold;
presidentialcandidateEugeneV. Debs received6.1 percentof the vote in 1912
Progressive(or "BullMoose") Party (1912): createdby former presidentTeddy
Roosevelt as a personalvehicle and to give voice to reform-minded Republicans;
may have cost RepublicanWilliam Howard Taft re-electionin 1912
ProgressiveParty (192\: led by Sen.Robert La Follette (WI), this group-not
the sameas the party above-opposed big business,monopolies, and the draft,
and supportedindustrial workers and farmers; the senatorpolled 17 percentin'24
ProgressiveParty (1948-L952): led by former vice-presidentHenry Wallace,this
left-wing coalition (not the sameas the two parties above)received abolt2
percent of the vote in 1948 and did not hurt the Democratsas much as projected
State'sRights Party (1948-1951): a segregationist,
white-supremacymovement
which split from the Democratic Party and was known informally as the
Dixiecrats; Gov. Strom Thurmond (SC) won four Southernstatesin 1948
American IndependentParty (1968-1976): a segregationistparty led by former
AL Gov. GeorgeWallace;importantonly in the 1968election,in which Wallace
received about 10 million votes and won severalSouthernstates
Libertarian Party (1971- ): supportsthe rights of individuals over those of the
stateand the community, and works to downsize government;some influence on
the recent RepublicanParty; has won a handful of local offices
GreenParty (early 1990s- ): modeled on severalinfluential Europeanparties, the
Greensare militantly environmentalistand anti-corporate;presidential candidate
Ralph Nader's support in Florida may have cost Democrat Al Gore the presidency
Reform Party (1995-2005?):foundedby H. RossPerot,Texasbillionaire; pushed
term limits, campaignfinance reform, repeal of NAFTA; now splintered,dyrtrg
The Ten Most PopularThird PartyandIndependent
PresidentialCandidates
Name/Party/Year
Pop. Vote
Elect Votes
"BullMoose,"1912
1.Theodore
Roosevelt,
27.4%
88
2. Millard Fillmore,American(Know-Nothing),1856
21.5
8
1992
3. RossPerot,independent,
18.9
0
4. JohnBreckinridge,
Democrat,1860
Southern
18.1
72
5. RobertLa Follette,Progressive,1924
16.6
13
6. GeorgeWallace,AmericanIndependent,
1968
13.5
46
7. JohnBell. Constitutional
Union.1860
12.7
39
8. MartinVan Buren,FreeSoil, 1848
10.1
0
9. JamesWeaver,People's(Populist),1892
8.5
22
10.RossPerot,Reform,1996
8.4
0
Other Third Party PresidentialCandidatesWho ReceivedElectoral Votes
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Strom Thurmond,State'sRights, 1948:
39
just2.4
(The segregationistSC governorpolled
% of the vote but won four states
and picked up one electoralvote from TN.)
Harry Byrd, no party, 1960:
15
(14 unpledgedelectorsand 1 faithlesselector supportedByrd, believing that the
close election betweenNixon and Kennedy might be thrown to the House of
Representativesand that Byrd could then broker the election.)
William Wirt, Anti-Mason, 1832:
7
(Amazingly, Wirt won a state;this tells us a greatdeal about 1830sattitudes.)
JohnHospers,Libertarian,L97Z:
1
(A faithless elector cast his vote for Hospersinsteadof Nixon to draw attention to
Libertarian ideas. Hospersgot fewer than 2000 votes, but this action put him and
his party in the spotlight. Later Libertarian presidentialcandidateEd Clark
almost a million votes and modestnational attention.)
IssuesFirst Advanced blz Third Parties
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prohibition (the Prohibition Party)
women's suffrage (the Prohibition Party, Socialist Party, severalothers)
direct election of senators(the Populist Party)
immigration restrictions (several,especiallythe AmericanParty and the Populists)
progressiveincome taxes (the Populist Party and the Socialist Party)
shorterworking hours (the Populist Party and the Socialist Party)
prohibition of child labor (the Socialist Party)
unemployment insurance(the Socialist Party)
getting "tough" on crime (the American IndependentParty)
campaignfinance reform (the Reform Party)
many more examplesexist in American history
Current Third PartiesThat Appear On Ballots in Many States
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Green Party
Libertarian Party
Natural Law Party
ConstitutionParty / U.S. TaxpayersParty
various factions of the Reform Partv
My. How Times (and Parties)Change
Then
Now
1870-1930:nearlyall blacks
are Republicans
more than 70 percentof blacks voters
are registeredDemocrats
I 860-1876: Republicansare
more likely to be radicals or
reformers
Republicansare less likely to favor
systemicchange,especiallyif rapid
I 800-1824: early Democrats
believed in as little government
aspossible,favoring states'
rights
Republicansare more interestedin
down-sizing govemment and turning
more power back to the states
1856-1960:the Democratsare
the party of the South
the South is currently more Republican
Turncoats: TheseMajor Figures Switched Parties: Gov. John Connally (D then R-TX),
Sen. Strom Thurmond (D then R-SC), Sen.Jim Jeffords (R then I-VT); many others
How to Tell DemocratsFrom Republicans
The following list is excerptedfrom a documentpublished in The CongressionalRecord
on Oct. l,1974, by Rep. Craig Hosmer,R-CA, who saidthat the authorchoseto remain
anonymous.
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Democratsbuy most of the books that have been bannedsomewhere.
Republicansform censorshipcommitteesand read them as a group.
Republicansemploy exterminators. Democratsstepon bugs.
Republicansstudy the financial pagesof the newspaper. Democratsput them in
the bottom of the bird cage.
Republicansusually wear hats and almost always clean their paint brushes.
Most of the stuff alongsidethe road is thrown out of the car window by
Democrats. fMosher's note-is this one accuratetoday?]
Democratseat the fish they catch. Republicanshang them on the wall.
Democratsmake up plans and then do somethingelse. Republicansfollow the
plans their grandfathersmade.
Republicanssleepin twin beds-some even in separaterooms. That is why there
are more Democrats.
Percentageof the Vote. 2004 PresidentialElection
Bush(Republican)
Kerry (Democrat)
Nader(Ind../Reform)
B adnarik(Libertarian)
Peroutka(Constitution)
Cobb(Green)
Other
50.7
48.3
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.1
0.1
Total Third Party and IndependentPresidentialVote. 2004:
1.0percent
Total Third Partv and IndependentPresidentialVote. 2000:
3.75percent
Total Third Partlr and IndependentPresidentialVote. 1996:
10.02percent
Number of 1789ConstitutionalReferencesto Political Partiesi zero
Political Part)'Membershipof GeorgeWashington: none