Pros And Cons Of Third Parties

In recent discussions of third party campaigns, a controversial issue has been whether third parties hurt the presidential campaign. On the one hand, some argue that they help get the people’s concerns be heard to the two major parties. On the other hand, however, others argue that it ends up having the focus away from other problems. In sum, then, the issue is if voters are better off with more choices or that third parties are unnecessary.

While some believe that voting for third parties divide the country in a way that hurts us, third party candidates can be useful as they push the people’s views onto the two major parties.

I believe that having a third party candidate can be a good way to express concerns and ideas to the two major parties.

Jeffrey W. Koch, a chairman of the political science and international relations department at State University of New York, speaks about how third parties are important to politics. He claims that third parties are a great way to express the concern of the people to the major parties. “The emergence of a strong third party challenge provides the major parties with information about the electorate that may prompt them to re-define themselves.” This shows the importance of having a third party, as it shows what voters want.

Theresa Amato, who …show more content…
In the article Third Parties Have Divided, Rather Than Unite, Us, by Ro Elleithee, he explains that third parties just makes voting more difficult, that it splits votes where it messes up the balance between the other two parties’ votes. “We’ve tried the whole third party approach. But throughout history, third parties have accomplished one of two things - either splitting the vote and weakening one party while strengthening the other; or further polarizing us by giving a structured voice to an extreme element of society.” Third parties have been hurting America by causing disbalance between the two major