Minor Parties

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Minor Parties
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Four types of Minor Parties

• 1. Ideological Parties
• Based on one set of beliefs.
• Often based on Marxist principles, but not
  always.
• Socialist Party, Socialist Labor Party, Communist
  Party, etc. Marxist
• Libertarian Party individualism, small
  government.

3

• Single-Issue Parties
• Focus is on a single public policy issue.
• Ex Right to Life Party, Free-Soil Party,
  Know-Nothings etc.
• Major parties tend to take over the issues,
  killing these parties.
• Economic Protest Parties
• Begin in hard economic times.
• No clear ideological base (not like socialists)
• Demand better times focus on the enemy (Wall
  Street, RR, Outsourcing)
• Ex Greenback Party, Populist Party,

4

• Splinter Parties
• Split away from major parties.
• More important 3rd parties tend to start this
  way.
• Ex Bull-Moose Progressive Party (Theodore
  Roosevelt), States Rights Dixiecrats, etc.
• Usually form around one strong leader and
  collapse when that person steps aside.

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Problems with Classification

• Some minor parties dont fit ONE of the four
  categories.
• Reform Party (Ross Perot). 1996.
• Perots views of tax reform, changes to social
  security Medicare, trade policy, campaign
  finance regulation, etc. And on Perots view of
  the other two parties as being incompetent.
• Not ideological, not single issue, not economic
  protest, not splinter!

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Role of Minor Parties

• Huge impact on Politics and the major parties.
• Spoiler Role
• Splitting the vote between themselves and one of
  the major parties can give victory to the other
  side.
• Critic and Innovator
• First nominating convention
• Able to take a clear stand on controversial
  issues (Major parties cannot do this).
• Draws attention to major issues that might
  otherwise get ignored.
• Ex Womens suffrage, Income Tax, RR banking
  regulation)
• When ideas get popular support the major
  parties must adopt them as their own.