What is the history of Third Parties in U.S. politics?
611266
Jesse Ventura gov of Minnesota\n\nOther than that all third parties have been basically removed from the political process by the GOP and DNP
975744
The last couple of decades, it has become that.  You would think, out of 300 million Americans, we would have a better pool of people.  But NO, money has skewed everything to their favor, regardless of party.  I vote for each candidate, even third party ones, based on what they will do for us.  Jesse Ventura proved that third party candidates can win, if people will vote their conscience, not party affiliation.  And some will say he was the lessor of three evils, I'm not from Minnesota, so I don't care about that.  Just using him as an example that third parties CAN win, if we vote for who we want, not because some party says to vote for their candidate.  Then come the scare tactics after that.  All in all, it is up to us Americans to decide our fate.
989947
Sadly those two parties are dominating our political landscape and the Republicans have certainly pushed the "us or them" division in recent decades.  There was a time where the division wasn't as polarized.\n\nWe do have choices, Green Party, Libertarian, independant candidates, but most of the media covers the Democrats and Republicans, and the other candiates are painted as "fringe" or just plain crazy.  Even a valid candiate is portrayed as wasting your vote.
899870
I what has basically evolved is just two sides of the same coin.  That's due to all the cooperate money and influence. 3rd party candidates get marginalized and ridiculed in the media.(if they are mentioned at all). With the wealthy and powerful owning the media it would be very hard to change unless THE PEOPLE get really fed up. Expect that they will fight back very hard and dirty before conceding even a little power.  If you have ever read 'A Peoples History of the United States' by Howard Zinn, you'll know that every single right and you have today was fought long and hard by your ancestors to wrench each crumb from power.
81656
yes the two main are Democratic Party (DNC) and Republican Party (RNC) Then the third parties  37 total. then the other parties..16!  But this is not the list of ones in history!
835605
We have more than 3: heck lets see:\n\nIn no order:\n1)Green party\n2)Democratic Party\n3)Socialist Party\n4)Communist Party\n5)Libertarian Party\n6)Republican Party\n7) Federal Party\n8) Independents\n\nThat is just to name a few: in all there is about 50 parties in the USA,,\n\nThe problem comes in when the loss of vote for the 2 major parties is lost too the minor parties. BUT---this is good as it shows change in peoples attitudes in politics..At one time the Federals faced off against the Democratic-Republican Party..YES you read it right...\n\nAn interesting article asks for 4 parties\nsee below...first link is list as of 2004\nsecond is article on 4 parties
713013
I don't know, but I don't like it.  That is why I oppose political parties.  If there were no political parties then polititians would be forced to tell people what they think on certain issues instead of just hiding behind the label of a party and having people vote on you based solely on your party.  Not to say that no one looks into a canidate before they vote but the number must be considerably small on both the republican and democratic side.  Because I know that America will never get rid of political parties I think that a third party is a good compromise because with a third party America is not split in half.  With a third party then all parties have more of a chance.  People will still blindly vote for their party, but this way at least every party would be more equal.
889923
Neither party existed in 1789. Republicans and Democrats have flipped on several issues as well as demographics over the years.
833204
The Democratic Party was, in the early days of the United States, the party of States Rights (as opposed to the Federalist Party, which championed the power of the federal government over the states.) Over the years, the Federalists fell apart and were replaced by the Whigs, then the Jacksonian Democrats. The Republican Party arose in New England as a fairly elitist party. But with the issue of slavery, many northern Democrats left the Democratic Party and joined the Republicans. But states rights were the dominant issue of the Civil War for the South, and the Democratic Party held to it throughout the war.\n\nAfter the war, many Democrats who had joined the Repubicans on the issue of slavery returned to the Democratic party, but there were major differences between the Northern and Southern Democrats that kept them weak for decades.\n\nIt wasn't until 1910 that the Democrats won the White House again. During that time, the Republican Party had become the party of business, elitism, the Industrial Revolution, railroads, and destroying the Native American tribes. The Democrats became the party of liberalism, land reform, tax equity, and anti-trust legislation. They went, in essence from the party of States' Rights to the party of People's Rights. But they fell apart again after WWI on issues of prohibition (north was against it, south was for it), women's sufferage (same) and debate over the Versailles treaty.\n\nStill, many southern Democrats were fairly conservative on social issues. The old states' rights concepts were still very much alive in the South. Any many southerners remained loyal to the Democrats simply because they were NOT the party of Abe Lincoln, whom they despised.\n\nBut while the Southern Democrats were licking their wounds, the Northern Democrats really took control of the party and established its modern identity. That identity is best seen through the actions of two of its leaders, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
834131
If there were only one party it leaves it open to corruption. The reason for a second party or third party is to keep the party in power in check and create an opposition to critique the party in power...\n\nor so I learned in school.
962742
There are many more than two parties.  Some of the others have been elected and hold office locally and nationally.  The big two tie up most of the money and have the PR firms to groom their image, speech writers and campiagn managers to distract you from the issues.  The rest run on issues, which most people don't seem to understand.  Also Americans have an awful habit of wanting to vote for a winner instead of who they beleive would do the best job.  The two parties dominate because we are lazy voters.
24220
Not only not enough horsepower (which I agree with), but also because the U.S. has a two-party system ingrained in it's politics.  It's been basically a two-party system since the revolution.
61760
This pretty much explains it:\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Political_Parties#Historical_political_parties
563432
I would like a 3rd party-(CONSERVATIVES)-
1064699
A two party system can't really represent a population as diverse and huge as the US.  There are other parties, but most people are creatures of habit and do not want to stop doing what they've always done, picking Dem or GOP at every election.  The major parties focus on important political issues because they want to gain seats in congress, but they don't necessarily focus on issues that really matter in the lives of Americans, because those might not get as many people to the voting booths come november.\n\nI hope that people will seize on any curiosity caused by this question and check out some third parties.  Even if you never vote for a third party member, it's good to get another perspective on the issues that face the US today.
234151
In the US, there are only two main factions.  They are the Democrats and the Republicans.  The Democrats are more for the working folks and younger people.  The Republicans are more for the older and richer people.\n\nSpecial interest groups are very influential in American politics, they invest millions of dollars into the campaign of many politicians from the lowest level to the highest.  Their influence is to try to pass legislation that will benefit their industry.
715016
It's not a third-party issue.\n\nStates allocate electoral college votes, according to the rules set forth by the states. What the third-parties want is irrelevant.\n\nIn fact, the third parties are largely irrelevant given the current system, because the states so massively favor the dominant two parties that it's functionally impossible to elect a third-party candidate. The system is broken, but only those who don't support either of the two major parties seems to care.