Does America Need a Third Party?

April 1, 2024

With the 2024 election getting into full swing, voters are beginning to consider their options for races up and down the ballot. In many of those contests, Americans entering the voting booth will essentially face a choice between candidates from the two major parties: the Republicans and Democrats. But there’s increasing discussion about whether Americans should have another option—a strong, viable third party capable of winning any office, including the presidency. Smaller political parties have always existed in the U.S., but they’ve usually operated on the fringes of politics. Yet in a recent Gallup poll, 63 percent of American adults said the U.S. needs a third party. In fact, support for a third major party has hovered around 60 percent for the past decade.

A representative of the Progressive Party in Oregon and a political scientist square off about whether a third major political party would be a good idea.

Only 50 percent of Americans currently identify as either a Democrat or a Republican. America needs more than two parties to give voice to the other half of the country.

Historically, third parties have acted as critical agents of change in our society. Sometimes the political establishment doesn’t want to tackle a particularly difficult or controversial issue for fear of the criticism it would provoke. Third parties “are the ones that raise the issues that no one wants to raise, and, in the process, they change the political debate and even policy,” says Sean Wilentz, a professor of American history at Princeton University.

There have been many examples of this. In the 1840s, the Liberty Party advocated for an end to slavery. The Republican Party formed when it split from the majority Whigs in the 1850s to oppose the expansion of slavery. In the first two decades of the 20th century, the Socialist Party campaigned for women’s right to vote, the passage of laws banning child labor, and the adoption of a 40-hour work week.

Historically, third parties have acted as critical agents of change in our society.

These policies were later adopted by at least one of the two major parties and passed into laws we now take for granted. Today, the Oregon Progressive party is working to pass campaign finance reform initiatives in Oregon that are opposed by both major parties.

Third parties offer Americans real alternatives. Today’s Republican and Democratic Parties both focus too much on military spending and tax breaks for the wealthy while ignoring the long-term problems that will plague future generations. Little wonder that only 17 percent of Americans say they approve of the current Congress.

We need strong third parties to restore our faith in government, to transform our spending priorities, and to boldly tackle the major problems that are currently being ignored: climate change, providing health care, and making college affordable. As comedian Bill Maher put it, “It’s silly that a country that prides itself on choice allows only two.”

—DAVID HESS

Treasurer, Oregon Progressive Party

The U.S. political system doesn’t need a third party. That’s because, over the long term, the diversity within the existing system allows for a healthy combination of choice and change.

First of all, there’s already a great deal of regional variety within the two major parties. The Democratic Party in Massachusetts has different priorities than the Democratic Party in Oklahoma. The Republican Party in Utah is more socially conservative than the Republican Party in New York. And the positions of the two parties have shifted over time, adapting to the changing economic, demographic, and cultural developments of the country. The two-party system may not act swiftly, but it does work to generate a broad societal consensus before acting on major issues.

Another advantage of the two-party system is that it usually produces a winner who got more than 50 percent of the vote. In countries with multiparty systems, it’s common for no candidate to get a majority of votes, which requires candidates to cut deals with other, often more radical, parties to take power. In multiparty systems, voters can pick the party they like at the ballot box but have little idea and less control over what coalition of parties will run the country after the election.

Third parties often play a negative role in our politics—that of the spoiler.

Furthermore, third parties often play a negative role in our politics—that of the spoiler. By drawing off voters from the major party candidates, they can help elect the party that’s the farthest away from them ideologically. For instance, in the 2016 presidential race, Green Party candidate Jill Stein may have pulled away sufficient votes from Democrat Hillary Clinton in key states to facilitate Republican Donald Trump’s victory. In 1992, Ross Perot drew away Republican voters from Republican President George H.W. Bush, thereby ensuring Democrat Bill Clinton’s victory.

The only “successful” third party in U.S. history has been the Republican Party, which began as an insurgent party and supplanted the Whigs in the 1860s. It’s unlikely that we’ll see that kind of shift again—and it’s not necessary.

—DANIEL DISALVO