Michael Medved has this opinion piece, titled, “Constitution Kills Third Party Bid.” His thesis is that the electoral college makes it impossible for a new party to win the presidency, and therefore no new party will ever replace the Democratic and Republican Parties.
This ignores the fact that the U.S. had the same Constitution (for the most part) in the 19th century, and three times in the 19th century, a new party rose to power on the ashes of an old major party. The Federalist Party died out after 1818 and was replaced by the National Republican Party, the party that ran John Quincy Adams for President in 1828 and Henry Clay for President in 1832.
The National Republican Party died out after 1834 and was replaced by the Whig Party, which continued to exist until the eve of the Civil War, although it didn’t run anyone for President in 1856 and 1860. The Republican Party, which had been formed on July 6, 1854, quickly became a major party.
It is true that the Electoral College system injures a new party, by providing that if no one gets a majority of the electoral college vote, then the U.S. House picks the President, with each state getting one vote. Even though the newly-elected U.S. House, not the outgoing House, chooses the President in January (if no one received an electoral college majority in December), and even though in theory a new party could have also done well in the U.S. House elections, this is a significant problem for new major parties.
Life is amazing. Entities I like / love make stupid, stupid statements. Entities I hate seem to make sense every now and then, like Mike Medved.
“…died out after 1818 and was replaced… 1828”
“…died out after 1834 and was replaced…”
“…didn’t run anyone for President in 1856… The Republican Party, which had been formed on July 6, 1854…”
You can’t create a third party. One of the existing two has to die, and then you can make a new SECOND party.
From that perspective, Medved is right. Although, I wouldn’t blame the electoral college alone for this; even if something like the National Popular Vote were in effect this whole time with all else being equal, I don’t think the “first one must fall” rule would have been any different. I would look to Duverger’s Law: single member plurality elections tend toward two party systems.
READ THIS BOOK: http://www.freedomformula.us/store-page/books/evolution-and-destruction-of-the-original-electoral-college-ebook
I don’t think it the Electoral College as much as the winner-take-all approach employed by the vast majority of states. The Framers envisioned that lots of regional candidates would receive votes. (Note the text of Article II states that if no one candidate gets a majority, then the House selects from the top five.) Thus, the Framers likely did not embrace the modern winner-take-all approach employed by the states. More likely they expected the College members–however selected–to cast votes unconstrained by this odd formula. The power of the two national parties would be lessened to some extent by a proportional appointment of electors. With Bush and Gore, for example, Nader would have won Electoral votes which could have thrown the election into the House. Whether this would have facilitated minor party growth is speculative. But it sure would have put a dent in the duopoly’s perceived power!
Have ANY of the New Age know-it-all MORONS in the U.S.A. ever heard about PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION ???
Around since the 1840s – repeat 1840s.
See Israel, Germany, New Zealand, etc. etc. etc. — P.R. is NOW used in MOST of the *civilized* free world nations.
The *Framers* made all sorts of EVIL compromises in the top secret 1787 Fed. Convention-
Slave = 3/5 free person
Admit slaves until 1808
Fugitive slave clause
Min 1 Rep per State NO matter HOW SMALL the State’s population
Each State has 2 Senators ONLY – no matter HOW large the State’s population
Electoral College persons from each State = No. of Reps plus 2 — totally arbitrary
— due to the EVIL robot party hacks from the small and slave States.
Democracy NOW — before the DEAD party hacks from 1787 cause Civil WAR II to happen
— NO shortage of demagogue New Age robot party hacks quite willing to shoot off their EVIL mouths and cause things to happen.
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One thing prevents ANY minor party in this country from ultimately becoming a major party: MONEY. Without true campaign finance reform, all of the time and effort spent on third parties is 100% wasted.
Check out the facebook group political solutions for a better way to modernize our electoral college and help third parties have a better shot. We need to make every vote count! Check out the group and feel free to voice comments, join the group, and recommend to friends!