Winner-take-all vs. proportional representation In
winner-take-all (or plurality voting), the candidate with the largest number of votes wins, even if the margin of victory is extremely narrow or the proportion of votes received is not a majority. Unlike in
proportional representation,
runners-up do not gain representation in a
first-past-the-post system. In the United States, systems of proportional representation are uncommon, especially above the local level and are entirely absent at the national level (even though states like Maine have introduced systems like
ranked-choice voting, which ensures that the voice of third party voters is heard in case none of the candidates receives a majority of preferences). In Presidential elections, the majority requirement of the
Electoral College, and the Constitutional provision for the House of Representatives to decide the election if no candidate receives a majority, serves as a further disincentive to third party candidacies. In the United States, if an interest group is at odds with its traditional party, it has the option of running sympathetic candidates in
primaries. Candidates failing in the primary may form or join a third party. Because of the difficulties third parties face in gaining any representation, third parties tend to exist to promote a specific issue or personality. Often, the intent is to force national public attention on such an issue. Then, one or both of the major parties may rise to commit for or against the matter at hand, or at least weigh in.
H. Ross Perot eventually founded a third party, the
Reform Party, to support his
1996 campaign. In
1912,
Theodore Roosevelt made a spirited run for the presidency on the Progressive Party ticket, but he never made any efforts to help Progressive congressional candidates in 1914, and in the
1916 election, he supported the Republicans. Micah Sifry argues that despite years of discontentment with the two major parties in the United States, third parties should try to arise organically at the local level in places where ranked-choice voting and
other more democratic systems can build momentum, rather than starting with the presidency, a proposition incredibly unlikely to succeed. However, this ignores that in some states a third party is required to have a presidential candidate in order to also run local level candidates.
Spoiler effect Strategic voting often leads to a third-party that underperforms its poll numbers with voters wanting to make sure their vote helps determine the winner. In response, some third-party candidates express ambivalence about which major party they prefer and their possible role as spoiler or deny the possibility. The US presidential elections most consistently cited as having been spoiled by third-party candidates are
1844,
2000, and
2016.
Ballot access laws Nationally,
ballot access laws require candidates to pay registration fees and provide signatures if a party has not garnered a certain percentage of votes in previous elections. In recent presidential elections,
Ross Perot appeared on all 50 state ballots as an independent in
1992 and the candidate of the Reform Party in 1996. Perot, a billionaire, was able to provide significant funds for his campaigns.
Patrick Buchanan appeared on all 50 state ballots in the 2000 election, largely on the basis of Perot's performance as the Reform Party's candidate four years prior. The
Libertarian Party has appeared on the ballot in at least 46 states in every election since
1980, except for
1984 when
David Bergland gained access in only 36 states. In 1980, 1992, 1996, 2016, and 2020 the party made the ballot in all 50 states and D.C. The
Green Party gained access to 44 state ballots in 2000 but only 27 in 2004. The
Constitution Party appeared on 42 state ballots in 2004. Ralph Nader, running as an independent in 2004, appeared on 34 state ballots. In
2008, Nader appeared on 45 state ballots and the D.C. ballot.
Debate rules in Las Vegas
Presidential debates between the nominees of the two major parties first occurred in
1960, then after three cycles without debates, resumed in
1976. Third party or independent candidates have been in debates in only two cycles. Ronald Reagan and
John Anderson debated in 1980, but incumbent President Carter refused to appear with Anderson, and Anderson was excluded from the subsequent debate between Reagan and Carter. Independent Ross Perot was included in all three of the debates with Republican
George H. W. Bush and Democrat
Bill Clinton in 1992, largely at the behest of the Bush campaign. His participation helped Perot climb from 7% before the debates to 19% on Election Day. Perot did not participate in the 1996 debates. In
2000, revised debate access rules made it even harder for third-party candidates to gain access by stipulating that, besides being on enough state ballots to win an Electoral College majority, debate participants must clear 15% in pre-debate opinion polls. This rule has been in effect since 2000. The 15% criterion, had it been in place, would have prevented Anderson and Perot from participating in the debates in which they appeared. Debates in other state and federal elections often exclude independent and third-party candidates, and the Supreme Court has upheld this practice in several cases. The
Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a private company. In cases with an extreme minor candidate, not changing positions can help to reframe the more competitive candidate as moderate, helping to attract the most valuable swing voters from their top competitor while losing some voters on the extreme to the less competitive minor candidate. ==Current U.S. third parties==