American political trivia question

mitchymo

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I am curious to know if the US only has two political parties because we only ever hear of the republicans this and democrats that over here ...... so are there any other notable parties and how do they stand out. I believe i'm right in thinking that the republicans are equivalent of UK conservatives and the democrats are 'left' in political terms?
 

marleyisalegend

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There are always underdogs but they're so "under" that I forget the technical term for them. It wasn't any weird word, I believe it was a common one but, like you said, this party is rarely mentioned. brb.

*heads to google*
 

ZOS23xy

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Third Party Independents.


Which has included the likes of George Wallace, the Whig Party, Theodore Roosevelt, The Abolitionists, various feminists who ran in the late 19th century, and some clown named Ralph Nader (or should it be Nadir?). He's run more times than Harold Stassen I believe. His credability is hitting rock bottom.
 
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DC_DEEP

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There are lots of other political parties, but they are all in such a minority (in comparison to the big-two) that they are always referred to as "third party candidates" if they can even get on a ticket. While several parties do exist, our system is still referred to as a two-party system.
 

D_Gunther Snotpole

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Here's Wikipedia's List of political parties in the United States.

Apart from the Republicans and Democrats, three other parties, either in the 2004 or the upcoming election, have had or will have ballot status for its presidential candidates in states whose electoral vote totals are equal to at least half of the total number of electoral votes ... and thereby, in theory, having a possibility, however slight, of offering a successful nominee for president.
Those are the Libertarian Party, the Constitution Party, and the Green Party.

Other parties, named in the Wikipedia article, that have nominated candidates in recent elections include:

And there are quite a slew of other parties mentioned as well.
 
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hotbtminla

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Hmm... I don't think Whigs were a third-party per se. I thought they came about as an opposing alternative to what became the Democratic party when the Federalist party hit the skids? Then they morphed into the Republican party after our civil war.

To answer your question Mitch, the US has basically been a two-party system pretty much from the beginning, but its not been the same two parties through our history. Our modern Republican and Democratic parties have been entrenched for the past 140 years or so.

Third parties have evolved, and some of them have wound up supplanting one of the two dominant parties, but that's only happened a handful of times and usually after a major schism has occurred in one of the dominants. It's hard for alternative parties to gain enough prominence to succeed here because of lack of resources ($) and the way our electoral system works. It's also in the best interests of Republicans and Democrats to keep them in check because they like being in power. :cool:
 

hotbtminla

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Is there usually a high turn-out when voting or do people find it frustrating that there is only really an either/or choice?

I think our average voter turnout in a presidential election year is a little over 50%. It was slightly higher during the 2004 election. In non-presidential years turnout is usually below 50%.

Interpret that as you will. :cool:
 

mitchymo

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I think our average voter turnout in a presidential election year is a little over 50%. It was slightly higher during the 2004 election. In non-presidential years turnout is usually below 50%.

Interpret that as you will. :cool:

I think that shows that americans overall are more proactive in choosing their government which is good cos even during general elections here the turnout struggles around the 42% mark
 

hotbtminla

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I think that shows that americans overall are more proactive in choosing their government which is good cos even during general elections here the turnout struggles around the 42% mark

Interesting perspective. Perhaps there's hope for us yet! :biggrin1:

Of course, I just looked up some stats and only 2/3 of Americans eligible to vote are actually registered (though apparently the percentage went up a few points in the last year), and only half of them do vote... so the numbers can be a little deceiving.
 

DC_DEEP

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Hmm... I don't think Whigs were a third-party per se. I thought they came about as an opposing alternative to what became the Democratic party when the Federalist party hit the skids? Then they morphed into the Republican party after our civil war.
Excellent summary, hb