List of political parties in the United States
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Political parties in the United States lists political parties in the United States.
Contents |
Introduction
Legally, the United States has a multi-party system. However, in practice, since the mid 1800s, the United States has had a two-party system with occasional inlets made by third parties. This is largely due to the fact that the United States does not have a parliamentary system; it may also be a consequence of the first-past-the-post election system and restrictive ballot access laws imposed on the other political parties. There have been many political parties other than the two dominant ones, but most third parties are generally considered to be of only minor and short-lived political significance.
Notwithstanding the general perception, many third parties throughout U.S. history have achieved regional success and some (notably the Prohibition Party and the Socialist Party) have had major portions of their platforms incorporated into the platforms of the “major parties.”
Categorizing U.S. political parties
For the purposes of this article, the political parties are grouped into four sections. The first section is “Current major parties”, as the term is defined above. The second section is called “Current third parties” and it consists of those parties that have achieved (or, in the lead-up to an election, are reasonably expected to achieve) ballot status for their respective candidates for President of the United States in states with enough electoral votes to have a theoretical chance of winning. The third section is called “Current minor and regional parties that have endorsed candidates” and consists of all the other currently active parties which have candidates (so-called “political parties” with candidates listed). The last section, “Historical political parties”, is for political parties that are defunct.
An alternate means for categorizing U.S. political parties, historically and currently, is to apply the Federal Election Commission's definition of "national committees" retroactively back in time to the beginning of the U.S. To see such a list, see Richard Winger's article in the Election Law Journal, April 2006 (Vol. 5 no. 2), which can be read on-line at www.liebertonline.com/loi/elj. Within that article, the list of parties is in Appendix A.
Current major parties
- Democratic Party, founded circa 1792
- Republican Party, founded 1854
See also:
- Current political party strength in U.S. states
- List of state Democratic Parties in the U.S.
- List of state Republican Parties in the U.S.
Current third parties
Each of these non-major parties had ballot status for its presidential candidate in states with enough electoral votes to have had a theoretical chance of winning the 2004 presidential election.
See also:
Current minor and regional parties that have endorsed candidates
These parties do not have ballot status for their presidential candidate in enough states to have a theoretical chance to win. Some do not have presidential candidates at all, but do have candidates for other offices.
- Alaskan Independence Party
- Aloha Aina Party
- American Centrist Party
- America First Party
- American Heritage Party
- American Independent Party (Currently affiliated with the Constitution Party)
- American Party
- American Nazi Party
- American Reform Party
- Action 4 Justice Party
- Charter Party of Cincinnati, Ohio
- Communist Party USA
- Conservative Party of New York
- Conservative Party of the United States of America
- Covenant Party (Northern Mariana Islands)
- Democratic Socialists of America
- Grassroots Party
- Greens/Green Party USA
- Independence Party of Minnesota
- Independent American Party (Currently affiliated with the Constitution Party)
- Independent Citizens Movement (US Virgin Islands)
- Labor Party
- Liberal Party of Minnesota
- Liberal Party of New York
- Liberty Union Party
- Marijuana Party
- Marijuana Reform Party (New York)
- Mountain Party (West Virginia)
- Natural Law Party
- Nebraska Party (Affiliated with the Constitution Party)
- New Party
- New Progressive Party of Puerto Rico
- New Union Party
- New York State Right to Life Party
- Peace and Freedom Party
- Patriot Party
- Personal Choice Party
- Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
- Populist Party of Maryland (Nader 2004-affiliated, unrelated to earlier so-named parties)
- Prohibition Party
- Puerto Rican Independence Party
- Reform Party of Michigan
- Rent is Too Damn High (New York Mayoral Elections)
- Republican Moderate Party of Alaska
- Revolutionary Communist Party
- Social Democrats USA
- Socialist Action
- Socialist Alternative
- Socialist Equality Party (US)
- Socialist Labor Party
- Socialist Party USA
- Socialist Workers Party
- Southern Party
- Southern Independence Party
- United Citizens Party
- Unity Party of America
- U.S. Pacifist Party
- Vermont Progressive Party
- Voter rights party
- We the People Party
- Workers World Party
- Working Families Party
- Workers Party, USA
- World Socialist Party of the United States
Historical political parties
- NOTE: The following list of historical parties report only parties that are no longer functioning entities. Some of the parties still in existence were also major players in the below mentioned party systems.
First Party System (before 1824)
Second Party System (1824–1854)
Third Party System (1854–1896)
- American Party (“Know-Nothings”) 1854-58
- Anti-Monopoly Party
- Constitutional Union Party 1860
- Greenback Party 1878
- Liberal Party (Utah)
- National Union Party, formed for 1864 Lincoln reelection
- Liberal Republican Party 1872
- People's Party (Utah)
- Populist Party 1892-1900
Progressive Era/Fourth Party System (1896–1932)
- Farmer-Labor Party
- Fusion Party (not an actual party, but a multi-party voting method used primarily in northern states)
- Home Rule Party of Hawaii (created to serve the native Hawaiian agenda in the state legislature and U.S. Congress)
- National Woman's Party, a pressure group led by Alice Paul; not a party; did not run candidates
- Non-Partisan League (Not a party in the technical sense)
- Progressive Party 1912 (“Bull Moose Party”)
- Progressive Party 1924
- Progressive Party Wisconsin
- Social Democratic Party
- Socialist Party of America
New Deal/Fifth Party System (1932–1964)
- American Labor Party
- Farmer-Labor Party 1918
- Progressive Party 1948
- Progressive Party Wisconsin 1924+
- States' Rights Democratic Party (“Dixiecrats”) 1948
- Union Party 1936
Later 20th century
- American Independent Party: the party under Alabama Governor George Wallace in the 1968 and 1972 elections
- Citizens Party (1980–1984)
- Constitution Party (1992-)
- Communist Workers Party
- Independent Party of Utah (1988-1996)
- Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party
- New Alliance Party/International Workers Party
- People's Party
- Puerto Rican Renewal Party (mid 1980s)
- Puerto Rican Socialist Party (1970s–1980s)
- U.S. Labor Party
- Vegetarian Party (1948–1964)
See also
Other lists
- Index of political parties to browse parties by name
- List of political parties to browse parties by country
- List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
- Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
- List of political parties in Puerto Rico
List of political parties in: Antigua and Barbuda • Bahamas • Barbados • Belize • Canada • Costa Rica • Cuba • Dominica • Dominican Republic • El Salvador • Grenada • Guatemala • Haiti • Honduras • Jamaica • Mexico • Nicaragua • Panama • Saint Kitts and Nevis • Saint Lucia • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines • Trinidad and Tobago • United States
Anguilla • Aruba • Bermuda • British Virgin Islands • Cayman Islands • Greenland • Guadeloupe • Martinique • Montserrat • Navassa Island • Netherland Antilles • Puerto Rico • Saint-Pierre and Miquelon • Turks and Caicos Islands • U.S. Virgin Islands
External links
- Party Links
- Political Parties on the Web
- Directory of U.S. Political Parties
- Political Parties Timeline
- Ballot Access News
Further reading
- Nash, Howard P., Jr.; M. B. Schnapper (1959). Third Parties in American Politics.
- Ness, Immanuel; James Ciment (c2000). The Encyclopedia of Third Parties in America. Armonk, N.Y.: Sharpe Reference. ISBN 0-7656-8020-3.
| Political Parties of the United States | |
|---|---|
| Major Parties | Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/d/d5/Dplogo.png': ûǸļĿ¼. Democratic Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/4/49/Rplogo.png': ûǸļĿ¼. Republican |
| Third Parties | Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/8/87/Cpnatlogo.gif': ûǸļĿ¼. Constitution Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/a/a7/Gplogo.png': ûǸļĿ¼. Green Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/5/55/Lplogo.png': ûǸļĿ¼. Libertarian Error creating thumbnail: convert: unable to open image `/home/www/en.wikilib.org/images/b/ba/American_reform_party_logo.png': ûǸļĿ¼. Reform |
| Smaller Parties | Peace and Freedom Socialist Socialist Workers VT Progressive |
| Historical Parties | Anti-Masonic Democratic-Republican Federalist Progressive Whig |
| See List of political parties in the United States for a complete list. | |
