Significance of thrd parties and independents

Very significant

In certain close elections, third parties can act as spoilers and affect the final outcome
- 2000: Bush/Gore race came down to Florida, Green candidate Ralph Nader got more votes than Bush’s final margin
- If Nader had not stood, most of his votes would have gone to Gore, who would have become president
Congressional elections can be directly influenced by the presence of independent/third-party candidates
- 2018: Maine 2nd District, Republican winner in first round failed to win when eliminated independent second preference votes were redistributed
Third parties/independents may have policies that are attractive to voters, which are then taken by main parties
- e.g. Ross Perot’s (Reform, 1992) pledge for a balanced budget
- Green New Deal in 2018, 2020 taken by progressive Democrats

In most presidential elections third-party and independent candidates fail to make any impact
Maine is the only state currently using annything other than FPTP, votes for other parties are wasted votes
Third parties and independets lack high-profile media presence, rarely able to participate in televised debates
- Often labelled as extremist and/or irrelevant

Third-parties and independents got under 2% of the vote
- Failed to act as spoilers in any swing states
Both nominally senators, Angus King (I-ME) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reelected but no newcomers
Dan Osborn came within 7% (436k vs 499k) of unseating incumbent R senator in Nebraska, there was no D candidate standing

Main significance is to have incremental influence on policies of the main two parties
Two main parties are R and D, generally more conservative than their UK equivalent
Both parties changed considerably, have become more polarised and homogeneous
Both parties remain internal coalitions or “big tent”, containing range of factions within