The Effect Of Third Party Candidates In Presidental Elections Essay exa

The Effect of Third Party Candidates in Presidental ElectionsAlthough citizens of the United States have the hazard to vote formany different offices at the national, state, and local levels, the election ofthe president of the United States every four years is the focal point of theAmerican policy-making process. The American political system has maintained a devil-party system since its inception. Political scientists argue that a two-partysystem is the most stable and efficacious means of running a democratic nation asa mono-party system leads toward tyranny, and a multi-party system creates over-diversification and gridlock (Mazmanian 6). The Constitution of the UnitedStates does not in any way limit the structure of the political system to twoparties. In fact, there has been no presidential election where there were onlytwo candidates however, third-party candidates are rarely represented in amajority of the states, and those that were on the ballot in a majority ofstates h ave never been successful. However, on a few occasions, third partycandidates have been able to make a significant impact on the presidentialelection process such as George Wallace in 1968 and H. Ross Perot in 1992.Through nineteenth century there was little deviation from the traditionaltwo-party system. Until then, political candidates were utterly dependant uponthe political al-Qaeda of an established party for their campaigns. Untilthe development of mass media technologies, including radio and television,political candidates had no direct means of communicating with the public andwere thus dependant on the communications systems of the major parties. Thus,third party movements lacked the capabilities to run an consummationive campaignagainst the major parties.However, mass media has changed the scope of the election process andbrought about the demise of the major political parties (Robinson 147).Candidates who run a television dominated campaign have hurt their parties in an umber of ways. The media specialists who manage such campaigns tend to be loyal to a candidate rather than to the candidates party as a result, thecampaign supports a single candidate and not the entire ticket of the party. Inaddition, the dour reliance on television allows a candidate to reach votersdirectly, thereby weakening the traditional function of the party as aninfo... ...eed, Ross Perot and George Wallace had aprofound effect on the outcome of the elections they participated in, but Perothad a more lasting effect. Ross Perot proved to the world that it is quiteplausible for a completely independent candidate to " passing play into center stage andsteal the show" (Robinson 141). With the decline of the political parties andtheir role in the campaign process, the possibilities for more successfulindependent candidates can only increase. at long last an independent will gofarther than swaying the outcome. One day an independent will win.Works CitedBrown, Gene. H. R oss Perot Texas Billionaire. Vero Beach Rourke Enterprises,Inc, 1993.Goldman, Peter and Tom Mathews. "The Manhattan Project". Newsweek (SpecialElection Issue) November/December, 1992. pp.40-57Jackson, David. " tertiary party chances gauged" Dallas Morning News. November 5, 1992.Mazmanian, Daniel A. Third Parties in Presidential Elections. New York FranklinWatts, 1974.Murr, Andrew. "Superhero". Newsweek (Special Election Issue) November/December,1992. pp.70-77.Robinson, James W., ed. Ross Perot Speaks Out. Rocklin Prima Publishing, 1992..