The Antidote to Partisanship

The plethora of political campaign signs that typically line the sidewalks during pre-election weeks have been strewn about carelessly due to Hurricane Michael that recently came up the East Coast. While the harsh winds caused some serious damage, could this disarray of signs indicate that, like these screen-printed pieces of corrugated plastic, we are eagerly casting aside the idea of a two party system? Since the materialization of the Federalists and Anti-Federalists early in American history, this nation has established a tradition of a two party system based on two categorical extremes.

It is this very tradition, along with a political culture of consensus and moderation, that has made the emergence of a successful third party so challenging. Minor parties play a powerful role in the political landscape, despite little electoral success, by broaching new ideas, providing a moderating influence, and conceivably deciding the fate of an election.

Libertarianism has already influenced U.S. policy and offers a middle ground for Americans who are disenfranchised by the two major political parties.

The main idea behind political parties, both major and minor, is that people have better potential to make their voices heard as a group than they would individually. Essentially, the goal is to rally around a common ideology and create platforms on current issues. Political parties play a vital function, from informing citizens and nominating candidates to influencing policy and keeping the majority in check. The two major political parties in the United States are the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, and have been so since the Civil War (Dinkin).

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The Republican Party is based on more conservative values while the Democratic Party is viewed as more liberal.

These are the two groups that get the most national attention, but third parties have the ability to sway elections, bring up new issues that the other parties have ignored, and have a neutralizing effect between coalitions. In some cases, third party candidates even obtain elected positions and have a chance at leveraging policy. The most well-known minor party in America today is the Libertarian Party, formed in Colorado Springs in 1971. Led by David Nolan, a group of people came together to assemble the Committee to Form a Libertarian Party, which was established to determine if a new political party was needed, or if one of the existing parties was appropriate. The 90-day wage and price freeze in the summer of that year imposed by president Nixon in an attempt to counter inflation was said to be a deciding factor in this decision. The first national convention was held in June of 1972 in Denver, Colorado and attracted 89 delegates from 23 states.

By the 1972 presidential election, the party had over 80 members and attained ballot access in two states. Today, Libertarians are the third largest political party in America, with 511,277 registered Libertarian voters. Libertarians are not just another single-issue party, rather a middle ground that encompasses all the same issues the two major parties do while advocating for free will. Their main focus is on personal freedoms and no government interference, or “minimum government, maximum freedom” (source). Since its formation in the 1970s, Libertarian ideas have had a significant impact on the U.S. political landscape. Charles Koch founded the Libertarian think tank, the Cato Institute in 1977, and his brother, David H. Koch, ran as vice president on the Libertarian ticket in 1980 (source). Gary Johnson, the current Libertarian candidate, ran for president in 2012 and 2016, garnering nearly 1.3 million and 4.5 million votes respectively (source). Johnson’s numbers represent the highest vote totals received by any Libertarian candidate ever in the party’s history.

Individual freedoms such as legalization of marijuana and gay marriage are largely Libertarian concepts stemming from a lack of government involvement in personal affairs. 42% of Americans identify as independent as of the 2017 Gallup data, which shows a three-point increase from the previous year, the largest rise from any year after a presidential election (source). Regardless of where one sits on the ideological spectrum, it is clear to see that now is the ideal time for the emergence of a third party. While America is a nation that is still very much set in its ways, the alienation from the two current parties has increased the likelihood of a third party shaking things up. Minor parties, such as Libertarians, can help to diffuse the polarized partisan atmosphere and capture the votes of the more moderate middle that is the key for future elections. Libertarians have already shown some promising results and could very well be at the forefront of abolishing the two-party system.

Works Cited

Winger, Richard. “August 2017 Ballot Access News Print Edition.” Ballot Access News,

www.ballot-access.org/2017/09/03/august-2017-ballot-access-news-print-edition/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2018.