MINOR PARTIES ROLE OF MINOR PARTIES q Minor

MINOR PARTIES

ROLE OF MINOR PARTIES q. Minor parties play an important role in American politics q. Most minor parties exist to support a single issue; some have a broader, more practical base of issues q. Four distinct types of minor parties can be identified

FOUR TYPES OF MINOR PARTIES q Ideological Parties q. Based on a particular set of beliefs, a comprehensive view of social, economic, and political matters. q. Examples q. Socialist q. Libertarian q. Communist q. Don’t get many votes, but are long-lived q. Serve as ideological touchstones for parties

FOUR TYPES OF MINOR PARTIES q. Single-Issue Parties q. Concentrated on a single public policy issue q. Examples q. Right to Life Party q. Most single-issue parties have faded into history as events passed them by q. Sometimes they are consumed by the major parties

FOUR TYPES OF MINOR PARTIES q. Economic Protest Parties q. Rooted in periods of economic discontent q. Disgust with major parties, demanded better times q. Often drawn from specific geographic regions q. These parties disappear once the nation comes out of hard times

FOUR TYPES OF MINOR PARTIES q Splinter Parties q. Parties that have split away from the major parties q. The most important minor parties are formed this way q. Some form around a strong personality q. They fade when that personality moves on or steps aside

KEY ROLES OF MINOR POLITICAL PARTIES q Set precedents q National Conventions q 1831 Anti-Masonic Party uses convention to select nominee q Spoiler q Gain enough support to prevent another candidate from winning. q Ross Perot 1992, Ralph Nader 2000 q Critic and Innovator q Take clear cut stance on issues