Question
What is the purpose of Third Parties in a country dominated by a bi-party system?
My Liberal View:
Like many things in politics, at least in the USA, my opinion on third parties is complicated. However, I will attempt to explain it to you the reader in the best way I can. From the beginning of our country, when the parties were knowns as the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, there has also been dissatisfaction with what each represented. But, it was all that could be done, seeing as how the two origin parties were loosely given to those who wanted there to be a strong federal government (the federalists) and those who saw the gloom and doom of a strong federal government (anti-federalists). That being said, the Nations first president, George Washington in his farewell speech to the public, noted that having parties in the country, would drive an inevitable schism between the people. Maybe there was some wisdom in his words, but needless to say, they fell on deaf ears. And so, as the years passed, evolution set in, and the Federalist/Anti-Federalist parties transformed into their Antebellum (pre-civil war) forms. But within those years, many other quasi-political parties sprang up.
On, one hand I believe that, yes, third parties serve a very singular and minute purpose. That is to give a voice, however small to those who feel disenfranchised or simply unsatisfied with what the larger two parties have to offer. As an example, the Green Party, one of the stronger third parties in the countries, has a platform that solely revolving around ecological preservation, and so forth. As another example, my favorite useless party, in all it's varied forms, the Tea Party. Varied, because there are several different spawns of the original Tea Party of America, which have now had backing, and or support from political figures giving them some sort of illusion of power. The Tea Party, believes, Taxed Enough Already, and that taxes are evil things the government concocted in order to grow the government and keep the people down, via the MAN. These third parties offer a home to people who care wholeheartedly about these issues, and therefore serve a purpose.
As I stated earlier, my opinion is complicated. I say this, because I also believe that third parties are in a way useless, or at least only useful before they are inevitably absorbed into the larger parties of America. For instance, the Green Party: with a platform of ecological preservation, has been imbibed by the Democratic party, and likewise has the Republican party taken in the Tea Party. In the animal kingdom, the Cheetah is the fastest animal, clocking in at a maximum of 70 miles an hour. It can produce high velocities within short periods, bursts of speed to get the job done. That in effect, is exactly what third parties are. Short bursts of power and speed allowing for an ultimate goal to be reached, which in this case, being absorbed into the larger parties and hopefully getting part of your platform to be added to the bigger one.
There are hundreds of third parties out there. I've already given two: The Green Party, and the Tea Party. But there are also ones that serve an even smaller, more futile purpose than these. The American Nazi party, what real politician would call even dare run under that party, or what political party would absorb it; pretty much leaving the third party to it's own wingnut vices. But, there is something to be said about the American Nazi Party, their ability to actually be called a third party, shows that they are operating under the 1st Amendment rights of speech, assembly, and press. Why do I point this out, because it's useless, all of those freedoms are already big huge monolithic parts of both parties.
So, in closing, third parties serve a small few for a short period of time, giving them the illusion of power and usefulness. But, they will be eaten up, and added to the phalanx, like all others have been in the past. I do however wonder, could the Tea Party, be classified as a republican or libertarian third party, ( think it's more republican, because libertarians are just so rarely elected). The political scale, allows us to view from the fringe left, center to fringe right, and each party, and person in the country falls on it, whether they like it or not.
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