Third Party Blues: The Truth and Consequences of Two-Party Dominance

by Schraufnagel; Scot

• ISBN13: 9780415881593
• ISBN10: 0415881595
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2011-03-29
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

More than many areas of American politics research, studies of minor party competition and success are often overly driven by normative concerns that do not hold up to empirical scrutiny. This concise book presents a concerted effort to analyze the barriers in election law, such as ballot access restrictions and single member districts with a plurality rule, that prevent third parties from gaining a durable hold in American politics.Rather than trudge through yet another history of third parties in America or polemical arguments for minor party inclusion, Schraufnagel provides empirical grounding for the claims of third party backers. This thoughtful analysis demonstrates that the inclusion of third parties improves electoral participation rates and that third party involvement in the legislative process is linked to landmark legislative productivity. In the end, the work provides thoughtful suggestions on the types of reforms that would lead to greater third party success in American elections.

Author Biography

Scot Schraufnagel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northern Illinois University. His research and teaching focuses on political parties, elections, and legislatures in the United States, with an emphasis oh promoting a civil, representative, and effective governing process. Schraufnagel has been recognized for teaching excellence and has been published in a number of leading political science journals.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. xi
List of Tables	p. xii
Preface	p. xiv
Acknowledgments	p. xviii
Reader's Note	p. xix
The Case for Third Party Representation	p. 1
Democrats, Republicans, and Representation	p. 6
Checking the Arguments Made in Support of a Two-Party Dominant Party System	p. 10
Conclusion	p. 16
The Effect of Election Laws on Third Party Failure	p. 17
Duverger's Law and Third Party Failure	p. 17
Other Election Rules and Third Party Failure	p. 19
The Research Design	p. 22
Results	p. 29
Conclusion	p. 32
Appendix: Model Specification	p. 34
More of the Truth: Ballot Access Reform in Maryland and Florida	p. 35
Ballot Access in Florida	p. 36
Ballot Access in Maryland	p. 38
The Research Design	p. 39
Results	p. 42
Conclusion	p. 47
Third Parties and Landmark Policy Productivity	p. 49
Why Third Party Representation Might Prompt Legislative Productivity	p. 50
The Research Design	p. 55
The Case Studies	p. 61
Discussion	p. 72
Conclusion	p. 77
Appendix: Source Codebook-Landmark Legislation Project	p. 78
Third Parties and Civic Engagement	p. 80
More Preliminary Tests	p. 82
The Research Design	p. 87
Results	p. 91
Conclusion	p. 92
Appendix: Model Specifications	p. 93
How to Make Third Parties Viable Once More?	p. 94
Changes that would Prompt More Viable Third Political Parties	p. 95
Conclusion	p. 103
Notes	p. 105
References	p. 121
Index	p. 130
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