Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats represent the common people in the USA. Progressives and liberals around the country have started thinking about introducing a new third party called the People’s Party, with hopes that Bernie Sanders will lead the way. The Draft Bernie campaign says this third party would be “built on the ruins of a dying Democratic party…and provide concrete alternatives that matter to ordinary citizens.”
“Third” parties are parties that aren’t republican or democratic, normally created by underrepresented citizens who do not see their issues reflected in the national conversation or feel silenced or ignored by the government altogether. The Green Party, Reform Party, Libertarians, Constitution Party and Natural Law Party represent the most active third parties currently in the United States. These third parties, and more, have accomplished more than they are normally recognized for. From pushing forth an issue and forcing it to be a topic for debate, to leading protests that result in major bill reforms, third parties have a huge impact on what happens politically in this country.
Although alternatives to the Democrats and Republicans exist, many Americans either don’t know about third parties, or find no possibility of them getting elected. This is due, in part, to lack of media coverage, which serves the narrative that third parties don’t have enough party infrastructure, i.e. corporate donors, media allies, and down-ticket legislators, nor enough followers to be successful.
The creation of rules like “third parties can only be put on the ballot with a certain number of signatures,” and, “third parties can only attend debates if they have a 15% polling average,” supports the notion that lack of a majority support invalidates a platform entirely. In reality, according to a Gallup study, 56% of Americans believe there is a need for a major third party. The constant shaming of third-parties creates the illusion that an alternative to Democrats or Republicans could never work. Our fear of electing a greater evil is, in fact, a fear of voting for the “impossible,” and keeps us from voting for our own interests.
So, I’ve decided to come up with a list of 3 reasons we should give the People’s Party a chance.
- The Democratic Party isn’t doing anything for common people. In the article, “The Democrats delivered one thing in the past 100 days: disappointment,” Cornel West highlights that the Democratic Party has had its chance to fight for us, and they haven’t. He states that “the discipline of the party is strong on self-preservation and weak on embracing new voices.” In layman’s terms, the Democratic Party would rather do whatever they can to in order to stay afloat, than actually represent the people who put them in office. We deserve to be just as represented as the 1% is in office, even if we can’t pay off those we vote for!
- With Bernie Sanders as the lead, we would already start off ahead of the other parties. A People’s Party would be more successful than the other third-parties. It has the support of more people than any of the other third parties have, it has the people. This is not simply because of the populace’s yearning for an alternative. Bernie Sanders has amassed millions of ardent supports and is the most popular politician in modern history. He achieved 57% support from registered voters, more than both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. In addition to Sanders’ boost, if other third parties agreed to merge with a People’s Party, a coalition could easily reach the 15% quota and be allowed to national debates. Being allowed in a debate would create enough buzz for this party to gain popularity, even win elections.
- We have nothing to lose. Donald Trump is our president. The Republicans have taken over all branches of government. Diverse voices are not heard, even when Democrats are in office. Protesting isn’t working. We are being ignored, silenced, and not valued. If we create this third party, and get the number of supporters expected, we can stir up enough resistance to force change. In the article “Third parties aren’t ‘spoilers’. They’re at the cutting the edge of democracy,” Cornel West defines the formula for transformational change as mass movement + independent electoral party. So, if we really want to force this “transformational change”, we need to go past protesting. We’ve already started the mass movement, and now we need to incorporate the help of this independent electoral party.
So, will this new third party be put into office for sure? Maybe not. But, we can be sure that when we combine the forces of all the people tired of being ignored and silenced by the Democratic party, we will see a social change and eventually take over this country.
