A group of Democrats and Republicans broke away from their respective political allegiances to form what they describe as a more centrist political party, offering an alternative voice to the gridlock and polarization in Washington.
Compiled the Forward commafounders David Jolly, Christine Todd Whitman and Andrew Yang, writing at Washington Post, let's say the country needs a new political party that speaks to the “moderate, common-sense majority” and not the “fringes” of both mainstream parties. All former officials and one presidential candidate (Young), the trio say the party will support electoral reform, addressing issues such as “ranked-ranked voting … open primaries, ending the opposition … and protecting national rights vote”.
“The two major parties have removed the logical center of our political system — even though that's where most voters want to see them move,” they wrote. “A new party must fill the gap.”
Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
While it is true that one growing majority of US adults have expressed some desire for a third-party alternative to shake up the political system, which in practice is “extremely difficult,” he says Kostas Panagopouloshead of Northeastern's political science department.
Of course, one reason it's so hard for third parties to penetrate is pretty clear: the US electoral system is a winner. In a congressional system with single-member districts, a candidate needs only a plurality—meaning, simply, the most votes, but not a majority—to be declared the winner. This first design promotes two-party competition and forces all other alternatives into potential “spoiler parties at best,” Panagopoulos says.
The chances of success for alternatives such as the Forward Party are therefore slim to none, he says.
“It is more likely that an alternative party will emerge replace one of the two major parties from a real third party that achieves national success,” says Panagopoulos. “That's because of the winner-take-all nature of our electoral system.”
Of course, this happened with the The Whigs in the mid-19th century when the mainstream party was pushed out by the GOP.
Panagopoulos says it's more often the case that third parties succeed in systems that have “proportional representation or mechanisms for secondary parties that garner smaller vote shares to win seats in the legislature.”
And the creation of a new political party in the US is not particularly remarkable in itself. There are dozens of politically active small parties across the country — but very few are eligible for the polls.
To get on the ballot, parties must overcome all kinds of hurdles that vary by state, including gaining vote share. For presidential candidates requesting access to ballots, there is a separate one list of criteria This is equally terrifying for alternative parties that want to back one of their own for high office.
However, the Forward Party has one thing going for it: its founders (especially Yang) are relatively well-known and enjoy national exposure. The announcement of the party's creation generated endless media coverage. But, Panagopoulos says, name recognition alone would not propel the party to victory at a time when voters, despite growing discontent with the two dominant parties, remain closely and intricately aligned with them.
“The identity of citizen voters is more closely tied to their party allegiances in ways that are more pronounced today than ever before,” he says.
Although third-party candidates rarely make waves in national elections, there are some notable success stories. Ross Perot, for example, who was known as an independent in the 1992 presidential race, won 19 percent of the popular vote—though he held no states or received a single electoral vote. But no other third party candidate since Theodore Rooseveltwho ran for a third term in 1912 at the helm of the Progressive Party, received as large a share of the popular vote as Perot.
In addition to the spoiler effect, third parties also threaten to cannibalize the vote in favor of a less desirable candidate, according to presidential historian Michael Beschloss, who he tweeted on the subject recently.
“Remember that historically third parties have sometimes resulted in close elections being given to an incumbent party's candidate who is the opposite of what the third party stands for,” he tweeted.
The Forward Party, as of August 1, has not shared details on specific policy proposals. On the contrary, it is Website he lists three key priorities that he says will help inform policy. They include “free people, thriving communities and a vibrant democracy.” Yang, Jolly and Todd Whitman say they have merged their national organizations — the Forward commaThe Renew America's Movement and America's Service Movement— under the new platform.
The party's launch alone sends “a strong warning” to Democrats and Republicans that they may be vulnerable to losing significant support to newer initiatives like the Forward Party, Panagopoulos says.
“But it is not necessarily true that an alternative [party] would do better—or enact different policies that better serve” the people, he says.
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