A New Third Party in America? What It Would Take

Abstract

One of the most popular parlor games of American politics is discussing, anticipating or predicting the rise of a third party. These discussions can be fun, but the current American two party system has proven extraordinarily enduring. The Democratic and Republican parties, through a combination of decentralization, ideological flexibility and the quirks of the American electoral system and electoral laws have dominated politics in the U.S. for about 150 years, and will likely continue to do this for the foreseeable future.