Third Parties in America
by Steven J. Rosenstone, Roy L. Behr and Edward H. Lazarus
Click Here to Purchase from Princeton University Press

Review by Jordon M. Greene (August 21, 2009)

As Dr. Steven J. Rosenstone et al. explains, "[third] parties in America fulfill two critical functions," they serve to bring issues to the political table that the major parties otherwise would leave unattended and as mediums by which citizens can express their discontent with the two major parties. Rosenstone's Third Parties in America shows, in an easy to understand yet, systematic manner, the importance of minor parties and independent candidates to our democratic-republic and the constitutional, legal and extralegal barriers to their participation and success.

America is without doubt a two-party political system, and has been such since the founding of the first political parties with Hamilton's Federalist Party and Jefferson and Madison's Democratic-Republican Party in 1792. Yet, simply because we live in a two-party dominated system does not mean there are only two parties, and it certainly does not mean that the two major parties are the only important actors in U.S. elections. Rosenstone et al. demonstrate precisely the opposite. He shows that minor parties and independent candidates can be just as influential and important as the two major parties in varying aspects and degrees. Rosenstone also shows through important analysis that there are certain variables that cause spikes in the third party voting and support, such as major party deterioration and factions, discontent with the major parties, issue unresponsiveness and poor handling of the country's economy.

Third Parties in America shows that historically, it has been through the mouthpiece of minor political parties that issues such the abolition of slavery, the woman's right to vote and the curtailment of child labor have made it into the debates and platforms of the two major parties and eventually into our law books and Constitution. Note that these are not the only issues which minor parties where the first to bring real attention to that otherwise would have taken much longer or would have never been adopted by the major parties. They also show, overall, that a vote for a minor party or independent candidate as a rule is a more educated vote because of the multiple barriers to third party voting. Whereas the time and energy spent perusing information on candidates from the two major parties may require thought, as it should, it is nothing compared to the diligence that is required of those who finally decide to cast a third party vote, to go outside the so-called norm. Those who cast this type of vote must endure the criticism of those around them and the continual murmuring of people saying there vote is being wasted. They must undergo the difficulty of finding information about the candidates due to the media's poor coverage of third party candidates and the structural-legal barriers to access to the election ballot that their candidates will face, along with underfunded campaigns and typically, less qualified candidates in the eyes of major party voters.

According to historian John Hicks, as quoted by Rosenstone et al., "[a] glance through American history would seem to indicate that this kind of vote is after all probably the most powerful vote that has ever been cast." Rosenstone persuasively shows in Third Parties in America that this type of voting, minor party voting, may in fact be the most powerful vote through looking back in history. By examining third parties of the 19th century and independent candidacies of the 20th century, he shows that even though third parties did not win the White House or seats in the US Congress they were still able to see their issues adopted (or co-opted) by the two major parties, so in the end they accomplished their goals.

All-in-all Rosenstone convincingly makes the case for the need of third party involvement in the American electoral system, calling them "a central part" of the American political system and a "necessary voice for the preservation of democracy." Although the major parties do not adopt the issues put on the table by third parties "out of an altruistic concern" for the people, but to win votes and "put the third party out of business," in the end as Third Parties in America skillfully makes evident both "the third party supporters and the major parties benefit." Everyone wins in the end when minor parties and independent candidates are allowed to participate and take a meaningful role in the electoral process. Third parties are America's only "checks on the major parties," and therefore important vehicles of policy innovation and the voice of the people. For this reason alone, Rosenstone makes the case for state's giving increased access to the election ballot through the reduction or elimination of ballot access laws that keep minor party and independent candidates off the ballot. Just as the United State government needs its checks and balances against each of its three branches, the American people need their checks and balances against the stagnation and unresponsiveness of the two major parties, we need Third Parties In America.

Copyright © 2009 Jordon M. Greene. Jordon M. Greene is the President and Founder of the North Carolinians for Free and Proper Elections PAC, member of the Constitution Party of North Carolina's State Executive Committee and Ballot Access Committee, Political Science student at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and formerly served in 2008 as Campaign Manager for the Bryan Greene 2008 Congressional Campaign Committee.