How About a Non-Party Third Party?
What’s to prevent us from forming a non-party third party that promotes like-minded pragmatic candidates and policies who still run for office in the duopoly?
Those who have followed my political meanderings know that I have long been a proponent of disrupting the two-party system. At one time, I was pretty busy:
Twice running for political office under the Libertarian Party banner (and securing minor party ballot access).
Agreeing to be the lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit challenging Texas’ ballot access requirements for independent and minor party candidates.
Helping to organize the Texas Forward Party.
Writing about the need for challenging the two-party duopoly in US politics (see bibliography below for a partial list).
It was with some interest that I learned Elon Musk was going to try his hand at a third party. Though there have been many attempts at instilling a multi-party system in the US, the fact is that the US system of governance is pre-disposed to a duopoly (Duverger’s Law). The last time a successful “alternative” party arose was just prior to the Civil War. But in this case Republicans simply replaced Whigs, continuing the two party system.
The Libertarians and Greens have been working (unsuccessfully) for decades to establish a significant third-party presence. Ross Perot’s Reform Party almost got off the ground but floundered. The Forward Party is one of the latest significant efforts, but has little actual ballot access (though they are planning to take a run at Texas in 2026). Duverger’s Law seems to be holding, despite intense public dissatisfaction with US electoral politics. The duopoly (and polarization) appears to be a depressingly permanent feature of our politics. Competitive deficiency defines US politics.
The problem, as one might suspect, is that disaffected US voters don’t agree about what a third party should look like. Lee Drutman suggests that almost one in five want a third party more liberal than Democrats, a third want a more centrist party than either Republicans or Democrats, and more than one in five want a party more conservative than Republicans (which appears to be the electorate targeted by Musk).
The most compelling third-party alternative would be one that would focus on the pragmatic moderate centrists that once resided in the major parties (slightly right and left of center if you will). Today, however, “conservative Democrats” and “liberal Republicans” have disappeared from the political landscape. But we need those voices if we are to break the polarization spell that is threatening our duopolistic democracy.
Duverger’s Law (and history) suggests that undoing the duopolistic hold on our democracy will be a daunting task, not likely to accomplished simply with any upstart third party (much less by Elon). Count me discouraged by this course of action –colored perhaps by the failure of the court case to which I was party (a district court finding was overruled on appeal and denied a hearing by the Supreme Court).
In today’s environment, many believe that our democratic system of government is under attack primarily from those in the Republican party. But we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that a polarized duopoly provides a zero-sum playing field. When there are only two choices, one can side either with the victors or the vanquished – and the electorate seems to have made its choices carved in stone.
Those of us in the pragmatic moderate center may need to figure out an alternative strategy. Rather than fighting the duopoly, perhaps we should strategize about making sure our voices are heard within the duopoly. Perhaps there are ways to help elect legislators and executives willing to serve the broader public good and not just the good of their polarized tribe. Perhaps we could organize around institutional issues that would help promote more pragmatic moderate centrist choices (such as reduced gerrymandering, multi-member districts, or ranked choice voting).
A traditional political party with ballot access: a) organizes around certain political aspirations (typically expressed as a party platform), and b) puts forth party-selected candidates (typically selected in primary elections). Among other things, political parties recruit candidates, engage in fundraising, reach out to voters, hold conventions, and caucus together in legislative bodies.
What’s to prevent us from forming a non-party third party that promotes like-minded pragmatic candidates and policies who still run for office in our duopoly? A non-party third party would at least give us a place to hang out with like-minded folks, engage in political debates, and practice the skills necessary to be effective pragmatic moderate centrists.
Bibliography
For an excellent discussion of the history of ballot access in the US, read Death by a Thousand Signatures: The Rise of Restrictive Ballot Access Laws and the Decline of Electoral Competition in the United States by Oliver Hall, director of the Center for Competitive Democracy.
A sampling of my writings.
External Publications
Ending One-Punch Straight-Party Voting Will be Good for Texas
Tired of Taxpayer Subsidies? There’s a Big One You’ve Probably Not Heart About