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Chapter 5: Political PartiesLecture |
A. Four Types of Minor Parties in the United States
3. The economic protest parties were those parties rooted in periods of economic discontent, for example, the Greenback and Populist parties of the late 1800s.
4. The splinterparties were those that broke off from one of the two major parties. For example, the "Bull Moose" party of 1912 and the Dixiecrats" of 1948. Amazing as it may seem, most of the important minor parties in the nation's history have been splinter parties.
2. A strong third-party candidacy can play a "spoiler role" in an election where the two major parties are evenly matched. Minor parties take enough votes away from one of the two major parties to cost its candidate the election.
3. Minor parties have played important roles as critics and reformers in American political life.
4. When innovations proposed by minor parties gain popular support, they are usually adopted by one or both of the major parties.