Independent Parties
The paper intends to analyze and discuss an independent party; in relation, the paper presents the history of the independent party and analyzes that independents republicans or democrats once who are in office and what is the future for Independents. An independent party in a political system is not associated to any main political party. It has an independent agenda, which focuses on the power and the control of people. They play an insignificant role in the political system, as they are unable to get many votes. Some of the independent parties do not have any effect on the political system of the country as they have no donations, favorable situation among the public and no means to start a proper campaign. Most of them wait for the people to realize the truth and vote for the Independent parties are present in every political system of countries all around the world. These include Australia, Germany, New Zealand, America, India, China, etc. In this paper, we will see a brief history of the independent parties in American and the role they have played in the political system (Holmes, 1999).
Independent political parties in America
Throughout history, we have seen that minor parties have not done well in the political system of America. There are two major parties, which are the Republicans and the Democratic. There is a strong possibility that these two parties will dominate the political scene in America for many years. Since 1980, we have seen that only four state governors as independent candidates have emerged out of 350 (Noel, 2014). This is the reason because of which the impact of independent candidates that belong to independent parties is minimal on the Political system.
There are two types of minor parties. The first type is the Ideological or doctrine party which has a long history of electoral campaigning and experience. Their doctrines remain the same throughout the years they have been in the political system.They do not change their doctrines and thus the support for them is minimal. They wait for the people of the country to see the greediness of the major parties and believe that one day the people will realize their mistake and vote in their favor. Their policy is to stay affirm on their ideology and wait for the time to come and make the change (Gerring, 2001).
In America we see that the Libertarian Party, the Green party and the Reform party are the examples of doctrine party. The Libertaria party believes that a massive reduction in the government power should take place. The Green party focuses on the environmental issues. The main agenda of this party is created such an environment where the factors that influence the health of the country adversely should be minimum.
Ross Perot leads the Reform Party. It has been the most successful third party in the history of the political system of America. The success of this party lies in the presence of immense wealth. This helps in finding the campaigning in elections and pays for the extensive media coverage.
The other type of party is the Transient party that gain popularity quickly and raise in the political system strongly but falls and decline quickly as well. Thus parties focus on the issues of the people, and they are formed as a breakaway from the two political parties. One example of a Transient party is the "desecrate" party that was formed against the presidency of Trueman. Once the main party accommodates the views of this breakaway party, this minor party comes to an end (Monroe, 2001). One more example is the American Independent part which was formalized on July 8, 1968 according to California's American Independent party which was formulated. The event was headed by Bakersfield and a declaration of principles and constitution was formed, and the appropriate officers were elected for the position.
The declaration of principles announced
“A new party is urgently needed today because the elders of the existing parties, democratic and republican have deserted the principles and the traditions of our nation’s founding fathers. Bothe the existing parties have become opponents of the big government, crushing taxation, the dictatorial federation power, waste and fiscal responsibility, unwholesome and disastrous internationalism, and compromise with the nation's enemy." (aipa.org, 2014)
The declaration emphasized that every state should have an independent system of education and local affairs, which should not be, govern by the federal bureaucratic or court interference. The foreign policy should be made in the interest of the people of America and should not be based on that opinion of the world. This party was forms by George Wallace who after four years joined the Democratic Party again. However, this party did not segregate and still stand as one of the independent parties with a definite ideology.
The major leading organization which governs United States Democratic Party on a daily basis is the Democratic National Committee, which is also known as DNC. While the Democratic National Committee is accountable for supervising the procedure of writing a platform every four years timeframe, the Democratic National Committee or the DNC focus is on the movement and political movement in favor of the Democratic Party candidates and not on a simple public strategy.
Problems for Independent Parties
The most significant problem for independent parties is that they lack the fund to initiate a powerful political promotional campaign unlike the main political parties of the country. The support for the voters is also limited as they trust the main political parties with their vast history in the political system. The electoral system count against the independent parties as their capabilities to handle governance is vague ad unclear. Another reason lies in the campaigning strategies of the major parties. They change their stance on different issues according to the mindset of people of that time. They adhere to flexibility and convince people on grounds of mutual understanding (Howell, 1984).
Future of Independent Parties
The future of independent parties is not bright. The independent parties are minor, and they are the weakest parties and have been like this for decades. If they can change their ideology and make amendments according to the recent time; they can easily be accepted by the people and may get importance in the electoral campaign. Their changed ideology may bring financing by independent sources and with a power promotional campaign, and many independent candidates can get elected and even reach presidency. However, we see that the political system is dominated by the major parties in every country all around the world (Gerring, 2001).
References
Aipa.org. (2014). History of American Independent Party. Retrieved from aipca.org: http://www.aipca.org/history.html
Gerring, J. (2001). Party Ideologies in America, 1828-1996. Cambridge University Press.
Holmes, W. N. (1999). The National Black Independent Political Party: Political Insurgency Or Ideological Convergence? Taylor & Francis.
Howell, D. (1984). British Workers and the Independent Labour Party, 1888-1906. Manchester University Press.
Monroe, J. P. (2001). The Political Party Matrix: The Persistence of Organization. SUNY Press.
Noel, H. (2014). Independent Political parties. Cambridge University Press.
