Bartlett: Why Third Parties Can't Compete

In his Forbes.com column, Bruce Bartlett explores why third parties do not succeed in American politics, even though Americans clearly want an alternative to the current two parties:

In a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released on May 12, 83% of Americans said there are serious problems with our two-party system. Many have repeatedly said that they want more choices than just those offered by the Republicans and Democrats. Unfortunately, the Constitution essentially makes third parties unviable. But there are still ways we could improve politics without upending a system that has on balance worked pretty well for more than 200 years.

The problem for third parties is compounded by restrictive ballot access laws and other barriers that the major parties have erected to protect their de facto monopoly. Single-member congressional districts and first-past-the-post election rules also tend to favor the two-party system.

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