135-593: The Reform Party of the United States of America ( RPUSA ), generally known as the Reform Party USA or the Reform Party , is a centrist political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot . Perot believed Americans were disillusioned with the state of politics as being corrupt and unable to deal with vital issues. After he received 18.9 percent of the popular vote as an independent candidate in
270-432: A welfare state with moderate redistributive policies . Though its placement is widely accepted in political science , radical groups that oppose centrist ideologies may sometimes describe them as leftist or rightist. Centrist parties typically hold the middle position between major left-wing and right-wing parties, though in some cases they will hold the left-leaning or right-leaning vote if there are no viable parties in
405-534: A Democrat in the presidential and U.S. Senate primaries too. On June 20, 2020, during a virtual convention, the Reform Party again nominated Rocky de la Fuente for president. De la Fuente defeated three other recognized candidates, Max Abramson , Souraya Faas , and Ben Zion (formerly the nominee for the Transhumanist Party ). Darcy Richardson from Florida was nominated for vice president. In September 2023,
540-481: A Republican primary in 2010, Bill Walker of Alaska won a single term in 2013 as an independent by joining forces with the Democratic nominee. In 1998, wrestler Jesse Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota on the Reform Party ticket. Sometimes a national officeholder that is not a member of any party is elected. Previously, Senator Lisa Murkowski won re-election in 2010 as a write-in candidate after losing
675-922: A Republican. In February 2010, former Reform Party Chairman Pat Choate emerged to discuss the appeal of the Tea Party movement , contrasting it with Ross Perot's party, saying: "The difference with the Tea Party is it's been heavily pushed by a bunch of talk-show conservatives. You have the Republican Party attempting to use this as a means to pull independents or conservative independents to their policies, to their agenda." In February, Congressional candidates filed to run as Reform Party candidates in all four of Mississippi 's congressional districts, but none for any statewide offices. Among these were Barbara Dale Washer, Tracella Lou O'Hara Hill, and Anna Jewel Revies. In April 2010, former Vice President Dan Quayle condemned
810-573: A candidate-based PR system, has only rarely been used to elect more than 21 in a single contest. Some PR systems use at-large pooling or regional pooling in conjunction with single-member districts (such as the New Zealand MMP and the Scottish additional member system ). Other PR systems use at-large pooling in conjunction with multi-member districts ( Scandinavian countries ). Pooling is used to allocate leveling seats (top-up) to compensate for
945-522: A case-by-case basis. Perot could not have qualified for the debates in 1992 under these rules, and was able to show that various famous U.S. presidents would likewise have been excluded from the modern debate by the Commission on Presidential Debates. Despite legal action by the Perot team, and an 80 percent majority of Americans supporting his participation in the debates, the Commission refused to budge and Perot
1080-522: A conservative, but criticized Pat Buchanan , saying: "I'm on the conservative side, but Buchanan is Attila the Hun ." He withdrew from the race citing the party's infighting, as did Jesse Ventura and the Minnesota Reform Party. Donald Trump stated: "So the Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani. This is not company I wish to keep." "Mr. Duke"
1215-589: A court order obtained by a dissident faction associated with the Independence Party of New York . Therefore, the Weill/McEnulty ticket appeared on the ballot only in Mississippi, in which it received 481 votes. An erroneous news report was broadcast by ABC News that stated the party had endorsed John McCain . Frank MacKay of the dissident Independence Party of New York faction had made the endorsement, not
1350-471: A few list-PR systems). A country-wide pooling of votes to elect more than a hundred members is used in Angola, for example. Where PR is desired at the municipal level, a city-wide at-large districting is sometimes used, to allow as large a district magnitude as possible. For large districts, party-list PR is often used, but even when list PR is used, districts sometimes contain fewer than 40 or 50 members. STV,
1485-939: A few rare elections where a minor party was competitive with the major parties, occasionally replacing one of the major parties in the 19th century. The winner take all system for presidential elections and the single-seat plurality voting system for Congressional elections have over time helped establish the two-party system (see Duverger's law ). Although third-party candidates rarely win elections, they can have an effect on them through vote splitting and other impacts. Greens, Libertarians, and others have elected state legislators and local officials. The Socialist Party elected hundreds of local officials in 169 cities in 33 states by 1912, including Milwaukee, Wisconsin ; New Haven, Connecticut ; Reading, Pennsylvania ; and Schenectady, New York . There have been governors elected as independents , and from such parties as Progressive, Reform, Farmer-Labor, Populist, and Prohibition. After losing
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#17330928234381620-529: A few states. In the 2000 , 2004 , and 2008 elections, the American Reform Party supported Ralph Nader for president. The ARP is not a political party in the conventional sense. It does not have ballot access in any state, and it does not run candidates. It supports third-party candidates and independents who support the primary principles of the Party's platform. About 2010–2011, the party shifted from
1755-566: A grey face" led by John Major , and the anti-neoliberalism of Mexican president Vicente Fox . The centre-left adopted Third Way policies, emphasising that it was neither left nor right but pragmatic . This adopted ideas popular among the centre-right, including balanced budgets and low taxes. Among these movements were British New Labour led by Tony Blair . Social democratic parties became more accepting of supply-side economics , austerity policies, and reduction of welfare programs. Some authoritarian powers, such as China and Russia, resisted
1890-700: A larger middle class. Following the pink tide that saw several left-wing politicians take office, those in democratic nations adopted relatively moderate policies, including Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil, Michelle Bachelet in Chile, Mauricio Funes in El Salvador, and Tabaré Vázquez and José Mujica in Uruguay. These nations implemented the Washington Consensus , which mixed deregulation and privatisation with
2025-438: A major decline in the party's strength. Beginning with Buchanan's poor showing in the 2000 election , no Reform Party presidential nominee since 1996 has been able to gather 1 percent of the popular vote. The party grew out of Ross Perot 's efforts in the 1992 presidential election , where—running as an independent—he became the first non-major party candidate since 1912 to have been considered viable enough to win
2160-547: A number of far-right extremists remained with the party. By the October 2003, National Convention, the Reform Party had only begun rebuilding, but several former state organizations had elected to rejoin now that the interference from the Freedom Parties was gone. They increased their ranks from 24 to 30 states and managed to retrieve ballot access for seven of them. (Buchanan's poor showing in 2000 had lost ballot access for almost
2295-475: A number of seats roughly based on its population size (see degressive proportionality ) and in each member state, the election must also be held using a PR system (with proportional results based on vote share). The most widely used families of PR electoral systems are party-list PR, used in 85 countries; mixed-member PR (MMP), used in 7 countries; and the single transferable vote (STV), used in Ireland, Malta,
2430-449: A party's ideological stance. Conversely, some centrist parties will only be challenged from one direction instead of facing both left-wing and right-wing challengers, preventing it from taking its typical location in the middle of a party system. What constitutes the middle of a political system is unique to each nation, while ideological centrism is a political stance that exists internationally. Coalition building typically occurs around
2565-523: A plurality in most European countries. Third party (United States) Third party , or minor party , is a term used in the United States' two-party system for political parties other than the Republican and Democratic parties. Third parties are most often encountered in presidential nominations. Third party vote splitting exceeded a president's margin of victory in three elections: 1844 , 2000 , and 2016 . No third-party candidate has won
2700-490: A political system designed to encourage centrism in an ethnically divided nation as it transitioned away from colonial rule in 1965. Each voter was to vote for four candidates, each for a distinct ethnic group. This failed to produce a centrist government, as in effect it solidified the ethnic division in government. As post-colonial party systems developed in the Middle East, the influence of one-party states varied. Parties like
2835-569: A political system, opposing the right's adherence to the status quo and the left's support for radical change. Support for a middle class is a defining trait of centrism, holding that it is preferable to reactionary or revolutionary politics. In contemporary politics, centrists generally support a liberal welfare state . Centrist coalitions are associated with larger welfare programs, but they are generally less inclusive than those organised under social democratic governments. Centrists may support some redistributive policies , but they oppose
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#17330928234382970-496: A presidential race was George Wallace in 1968 , while the last third-party candidate to finish runner-up or greater was former president Teddy Roosevelt 's 2nd-place finish on the Bull Moose Party ticket in 1912 . The only three U.S. presidents without a major party affiliation upon election were George Washington , John Tyler , and Andrew Johnson , and only Washington served his entire tenure as an independent. Neither of
3105-531: A relatively centrist platform to a Tea Party -style fiscal conservative one. In the 2012 presidential election , the ARP endorsed Republican Party nominee Mitt Romney against incumbent president Barack Obama . In the 2016 presidential election , the Party endorsed the Republican candidate Donald Trump . In 1998, the Reform Party received a boost when Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota. According to
3240-467: A set of moderate political beliefs between left-wing politics and right-wing politics . Individuals who describe themselves as centrist may hold strong beliefs that align with moderate politics, or they may identify as centrist because they do not hold particularly strong left-wing or right-wing beliefs. In some cases, individuals who simultaneously hold strong left-wing beliefs and strong right-wing beliefs may also describe themselves as centrist. Although
3375-412: A side, causing political instability . Maurice Duverger argued that politics naturally drifts away from the centre into a two-party system and that a centrist party is an unnatural combination of the centre-left and centre-right. Giovanni Sartori argued that centrism is the default in a political system, but that the existence of a centrist party prevents the left and the right from moving toward
3510-746: A sign of dissatisfaction, and views them skeptically." Kristin M. Davis , the Manhattan madam involved in the Eliot Spitzer scandal, announced on June 27, 2010, that she was running for governor on an independent line in New York State using the name, Reform Party without Reform Party authorization after failing to secure the Libertarian Party nomination. Davis condemned the Democrats and Republicans for catering to wealthy white males, saying: "Where are
3645-430: A slim lead; however, on July 19, he suspended his campaign, accusing Republican operatives of threatening to sabotage his daughter's wedding. He was accused by Newsweek of being a "quitter" in a well-publicized cover-page article. After resuming his campaign on October 1, Perot was dogged by the "quitter" moniker and other allegations concerning his character. On Election Day, many voters were confused as to whether Perot
3780-474: A subsequent election. After 1968 , under President Nixon the Republican Party adopted a " Southern Strategy " to win the support of conservative Democrats opposed to the Civil Rights Movement and resulting legislation and to combat local third parties. This can be seen as a response to the popularity of segregationist candidate George Wallace who gained 13.5% of the popular vote in the 1968 election for
3915-406: A third-party candidate receives help from supporters of another candidate hoping they play a spoiler role. Nationally, ballot access laws require candidates to pay registration fees and provide signatures if a party has not garnered a certain percentage of votes in previous elections. In recent presidential elections, Ross Perot appeared on all 50 state ballots as an independent in 1992 and
4050-469: A third-party that underperforms its poll numbers with voters wanting to make sure their vote helps determine the winner. In response, some third-party candidates express ambivalence about which major party they prefer and their possible role as spoiler or deny the possibility. The US presidential elections most consistently cited as having been spoiled by third-party candidates are 1844 , 2000 , and 2016 . This phenomenon becomes more controversial when
4185-438: Is a form of centrism defined by its rejection of the left–right dichotomy or of ideology in general. Liberal scepticism and neo-republicanism can both be elements of radical centrism. Third Way politics is a radical centrist approach taken by centre-left parties to find a middle ground between capitalism and socialism . Though populism is commonly associated with strong left-wing or right-wing beliefs, centrist populism
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4320-417: Is at odds with its traditional party, it has the option of running sympathetic candidates in primaries . Candidates failing in the primary may form or join a third party. Because of the difficulties third parties face in gaining any representation, third parties tend to exist to promote a specific issue or personality. Often, the intent is to force national public attention on such an issue. Then, one or both of
4455-603: Is commonly associated with the political centre. Both left-leaning and right-leaning variants of liberalism may be grouped within a broader understanding of centrism. In Europe, left-leaning liberalism emphasises social liberalism and is more common in nations with strong conservative movements, while right-leaning liberalism emphasises economic liberalism and is more common in nations with strong Christian democratic movements. Social liberalism combines centrist economic positions with progressive stances on social and cultural issues. Left-leaning liberalism generally sits closer to
4590-464: Is critical of the political system independently of social, economic, and cultural issues. Centrist populist parties often do not have a strong ideological component, instead making anti-establishment politics the core of their message to capitalise on voter dissatisfaction and receive protest votes . These parties are most common in Central and Eastern Europe. Centrism advocates gradual change within
4725-569: Is independent, populist, or any other that either rejects left–right politics or does not have a party platform. This section includes any party that has a left-liberal, progressive, social democratic, democratic socialist, or Marxist platform. This section includes parties that primarily advocate for granting special privileges or consideration to members of a certain race, ethnic group, religion etc. Also included in this category are various parties found in and confined to Native American reservations , almost all of which are solely devoted to
4860-484: Is not considered to make an electoral system "proportional" the way the term is usually used. For example, the US House of Representatives has 435 members, who each represent a roughly equal number of people; each state is allocated a number of members in accordance with its population size (aside from a minimum single seat that even the smallest state receives), thus producing equal representation by population. But members of
4995-491: Is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum . It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policies and people who are not strongly aligned with left-wing or right-wing policies. Centrism is commonly associated with liberalism , radical centrism , and agrarianism . Those who identify as centrist support gradual political change, often through
5130-467: Is typically a junior partner that has little ability to enact its own policy goals. Party systems with a strong centrist element are associated with lower interparty conflict. The overall effect of centrist parties on a political system is a subject of debate in political science, and it is not always clear whether they encourage or discourage political polarisation, or whether they benefit or suffer from it. One unanswered question in political philosophy
5265-412: Is whether centrist parties create centripetal or centrifugal party systems. When centrist parties exert a centripetal force on other parties, it causes left-wing and right-wing parties to move closer to the centre and creates political stability . Alternatively, they may exert a centrifugal force in which left-wing and right-wing parties move away from the centre to pressure the centrist party into choosing
5400-403: The 1992 presidential election , he founded the Reform Party and presented it as a viable alternative to Republicans and Democrats . As the Reform Party presidential nominee, Perot won 8.4 percent of the popular vote in the 1996 presidential election . While he did not receive a single electoral vote, no other third-party or independent candidate has since managed to receive as high a share of
5535-457: The 2000 election was due federal matching funds of $ 12.5 million (~$ 22.4 million in 2023), based on Perot's 8 percent showing in 1996. Early on, there was a failed effort to draft Ron Paul . Donald Trump entered the race briefly, giving television interviews outlining his platform. Trump was progressive on social issues, and supported allowing openly gay soldiers in the military, saying: "it would not disturb me". Trump considered himself
Reform Party of the United States of America - Misplaced Pages Continue
5670-692: The Arab Socialist Union in Egypt and the General People's Congress in Yemen acted as restraints on political elites to keep them from deviating from the political centre. Anwar Sadat became president of Egypt, and in 1976 he split the ruling Arab Socialist Union into three parties based on its left, centre, and right factions. Rule was maintained through what became the centrist National Democratic Party , effectively controlling Egyptian politics and marginalising
5805-642: The Australian Senate , and Indian Rajya Sabha . Proportional representation systems are used at all levels of government and are also used for elections to non-governmental bodies, such as corporate boards . All PR systems require multi-member election contests, meaning votes are pooled to elect multiple representatives at once. Pooling may be done in various multi-member voting districts (in STV and most list-PR systems) or in single countrywide – a so called at-large – district (in only
5940-646: The Colorado Party of Uruguay. Christian democracy, usually a conservative movement, serves a similar role in Latin America as its opposition to more rightward politics moves it toward a centrist or centre-left position. Some political parties label themselves as centrist but do not hold centrist positions. These are typically more right-wing parties such as the centre-right Union of the Democratic Centre in Spain and
6075-885: The District of Columbia . As of February 2024, RCV is used for local elections in 45 US cities including Salt Lake City and Seattle . It has also been used by some state political parties in party-run primaries and nominating conventions. As a contingency in the case of a runoff election , ranked ballots are used by overseas voters in six states. Condorcet methods Positional voting Cardinal voting Quota-remainder methods Approval-based committees Fractional social choice Semi-proportional representation By ballot type Pathological response Strategic voting Paradoxes of majority rule Positive results Proportional representation (PR) refers to any type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in
6210-556: The League of Women Voters , the Reform Party USA obtained more votes nationwide in 1998 than did any other third party in America (without those garnered by Ventura). Counting Ventura's performance, Reformers took in more votes than all other third parties in the United States combined, establishing the Reform Party as America's third-largest party. The Reform Party's presidential nominee for
6345-663: The National Union ticket in 1864; it was a temporary name for the Republican Party. Electoral fusion in the United States is an arrangement where two or more United States political parties on a ballot list the same candidate , allowing that candidate to receive votes on multiple party lines in the same election. Electoral fusion is also known as fusion voting, cross endorsement, multiple party nomination, multi-party nomination, plural nomination, and ballot freedom. Ranked-choice voting (RCV) can refer to one of several ranked voting methods used in some cities and states in
6480-536: The dissolution of the Soviet Union as it spread through Europe and the Americas, but it declined in favour of populism after the 2007–2008 financial crisis . As with all ideological groups, the exact boundaries of what constitutes centrism are not perfectly defined, but its specific placement on the left–right political spectrum makes its position clearer relative to other ideologies. Centrism most commonly refers to
6615-419: The 1950s and 1960s, this declined to approximately 15% by 2020. Centrist dictatorships rarely occur. Most political party systems lean toward the centre, where centre-left and centre-right parties compromise with centrist parties. Centrist parties are typically found in the middle of a party system, leading to mixed use of the term centre to refer to centrist parties and to this middle position regardless of
6750-490: The 1960s as polarisation grew and radical parties developed. Industrialisation reduced the appeal of agrarianism in the post-war era. The Agrarian Parties of Sweden , Norway , and Finland changed their names to the Centre Party in 1958, 1959, and 1965, respectively. This left Denmark as the only nation with a major self-proclaimed Agrarian Party , but it also described itself as liberal beginning in 1963. Fiji implemented
6885-473: The 1960s. Taiwan's political system, already inclined toward centrism, saw its two major parties move closer to the centrism in the late 1990s as newer parties developed on either side. After a long period of strong left-wing and right-wing movements, Latin American nations trended toward centrism in the 2000s. This came about as the nations' economies strengthened and the reduction of wealth inequality created
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#17330928234387020-417: The 19th century, but it did so less than its primary advocates, and it rejected the related concept of social Darwinism . Instead of the idea that non-white races could not achieve European-style civilisation, centrist liberals believed that they could but it would take them longer to do so. Centrist liberalism was one of the two major global ideological groups at the beginning of the 20th century, where it
7155-478: The 19th century. As research universities became more common, advocacy for centrist reform was taken up by academics. Instead of engaging in direct activism, they considered social issues and presented their conclusions as objective science. Other ideological groups did not have success in this endeavour, as taking strong partisan stances risked one's reputation. Centrist liberals in Europe accepted scientific racism in
7290-582: The 2000 election. In 2005, a dispute arose for the number of National Committee members required under the party's by-laws to call meetings of the National Committee. These members came from several states including Texas , Michigan , and Florida . At both meetings, it was determined that a national convention would be called and held in Tampa, Florida . The chairman at the time and National Committee members from Arizona , California , and Oklahoma boycotted
7425-512: The 2008 ruling of Judge Carl Ginsberg of the 193rd District Court in Texas." In January 2010, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operations officer Charles S. Faddis announced his support of the party in The Baltimore Sun : "I have decided to throw in my lot with the Reform Party of the United States." Faddis later left the party, and ran in 2016 for Maryland's 5th congressional district as
7560-582: The ARP was founded, Jackie Salit noted in the Christian Science Monitor : "At its founding meeting in Kansas City in 1997, the 40 black delegates in the room, led by the country's foremost African-American independent – Lenora Fulani – represented the first time in US history that African-Americans were present at the founding of a major national political party." The ARP has yet to organize in more than
7695-621: The American Independent Party. In 1996 , both the Democrats and the Republicans agreed to deficit reduction on the back of Ross Perot's popularity in the 1992 election . This severely undermined Perot's campaign in the 1996 election. However, changing positions can be costly for a major party. For example, in the US 2000 Presidential election Magee predicts that Gore shifted his positions to
7830-567: The Christian Democrats expressed centrist positions but were the rightmost of Italy's major parties and took on a more conservative role. Turkey developed a two-party system with two centrist parties in the 1950s. The parties were instead motivated by demographics: the Republican People's Party was supported by urban voters and the military while Democrat Party was the party of rural voters and businessmen. This system fell apart by
7965-519: The Cold War, I just felt that once the Cold War was over the United States should return to a more traditional non-intervention foreign policy." After a bitter fight, Buchanan secured the Reform Party's presidential nomination over John Hagelin of the Natural Law Party . Hagelin and an anti-Buchanan faction walked out and held a separate convention across the street, where they nominated Hagelin as
8100-558: The House are elected in single-member districts generally through first-past-the-post elections : a single-winner contest does not produce proportional representation as it has only one winner. Conversely, the representation achieved under PR electoral systems is typically proportional to a district's population size (seats per set amount of population), votes cast (votes per winner), and party vote share (in party-based systems such as party-list PR ). The European Parliament gives each member state
8235-548: The National and executive committee meetings, claiming the meetings were illegitimate. As a result, those states held a second convention in Yuma, Arizona. In response to a suit filed by the group that met in Tampa, leaders of the Reform Party filed a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) complaint claiming the Tampa group were extremists and guilty of conspiracy. In 2006,
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#17330928234388370-459: The Perot and Ventura campaigns, but received only 1.9 percent of the vote. By March 2007, the Reform Party had ballot access for the 2008 presidential election in four states (Florida, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi) and had already started petitioning in an additional four. The Reform Party held its 2008 National Convention in Dallas , July 18–20. At the national convention, Ted Weill of Mississippi
8505-413: The Reform Party USA. Reform Party USA Reference David Collison, the Reform Party's chairman, said during a 2009 interview, "Do you believe that any legitimate national party would endorse the Republican candidate for President rather than have a candidate of their own?" The candidates for the nomination included: A long-standing feud in the party involved John Blare, of the Reform Party of California, and
8640-601: The Reform Party lost its ballot access in Florida , leaving the party with no state ballot lines. At their party convention on May 23, 2024, the Reform Party nominated the Kennedy Jr./Shanahan ticket for president and vice president respectively. The Reform Party filed paperwork for re-qualification in May 2024, which would place Kennedy and Shanahan on the ballot in Florida. Kennedy withdrew from
8775-583: The Reform Party name. Davis was not a member of the Reform Party. Davis changed her Independent Ballot Line name and filed as an independent candidate by obtaining the required signatures needed in New York State to run for governor on the "Anti-Prohibition" line. The Reform Party held its 2012 National Convention in Philadelphia , August 11–12, 2012. At the national convention, the Reform Party nominated Andre Barnett from New York for president and Ken Cross from Arkansas for vice president. Among those who sought
8910-494: The Reform Party nominated candidates in Arizona, and petitioned to regain ballot access in several other states where state Reform Party organizations were active. The Reform Party of Kansas nominated a slate of candidates, led by Iraq War veteran Richard Ranzau. In Colorado's 4th congressional district , "fiscal conservative" Eric Eidsness (a former assistant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator and Navy veteran) ran on
9045-537: The Reform Party officers. On December 4, 2009, a New York Federal judge heard MacKay v Crews on the question of who are the legal Reform Party officers. On December 16, 2009, the judge ruled in favor of David Collison's faction. Collison said: "After over two years of litigation in Texas and New York, it is my profound pleasure to announce that US District Court Judge Joseph Bianco of the Eastern District of New York has ruled in our favor, and has further reinforced
9180-619: The Reform Party on CBS , saying: "Many remember the Reform Party of the 1990s, which formed around the candidacy of Ross Perot. I sure do, because it eliminated any chance that President George H.W. Bush and I would prevail over Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1992. Speaking on behalf of the Bush-Quayle campaign, to this day we firmly believe that Perot cost the Republican Party the White House." Pat Choate in an April 28, 2010 interview with Monmouth University 's student newspaper remained suspicious of
9315-496: The Reform Party ticket. He received 11.28 percent of the vote, five times the winning candidate's margin of victory; he later switched his affiliation to the Democratic Party. The Florida Reform Party granted use of its ballot line for governor to Max Linn of Florida Citizens for Term Limits (a Republican-leaning organization) in the 2006 Florida gubernatorial election . Linn retained professional campaign staff with connections to
9450-481: The Republican primary to a Tea party candidate, and Senator Joe Lieberman ran and won reelection to the Senate as an "Independent Democrat" in 2006 after losing the Democratic primary. As of 2024, there are only four U.S. senators, Angus King , Bernie Sanders , Kyrsten Sinema , and Joe Manchin , who identify as Independent and all caucus with the Democrats. The last time a third-party candidate carried any states in
9585-406: The Republicans. Micah Sifry argues that despite years of discontentment with the two major parties in the United States, third parties should try to arise organically at the local level in places where ranked-choice voting and other more democratic systems can build momentum, rather than starting with the presidency, a proposition incredibly unlikely to succeed. Strategic voting often leads to
9720-460: The Tea Party movement, saying: "At these [Tea Party] events, a professional Republican always speaks. What to me is questionable is that the Tea Parties endorse candidates, but never endorse Democrats—they seem to be a front for the Republican Party. We were seen as very serious. Perot gave millions, we fielded candidates, and we were a real threat to the status quo. The media treats the Tea Parties as
9855-674: The United States. The term is not strictly defined, but most often refers to instant-runoff voting (IRV) or single transferable vote (STV), the main difference being whether only one winner or multiple winners are elected. At the federal and state level, instant runoff voting is used for congressional and presidential elections in Maine ; state, congressional, and presidential general elections in Alaska ; and special congressional elections in Hawaii . Starting in 2025, it will also be used for all elections in
9990-459: The balanced budgets) failed to secure the two-thirds congressional majorities required to be submitted to the states. Dissatisfied, the grassroots organizations that had made Perot's 1992 candidacy possible began to band together to found a third party intended to rival the Republicans and Democrats. For legal reasons, the party ended up being called the "Reform Party" ("Independent Party" was preferred, but already taken, as were several variants on
10125-503: The candidate of the Reform Party in 1996. Perot, a billionaire, was able to provide significant funds for his campaigns. Patrick Buchanan appeared on all 50 state ballots in the 2000 election, largely on the basis of Perot's performance as the Reform Party's candidate four years prior. The Libertarian Party has appeared on the ballot in at least 46 states in every election since 1980 , except for 1984 when David Bergland gained access in only 36 states. In 1980, 1992, 1996, 2016, and 2020
10260-477: The capture of specific voters instead of the general population. The popularity of centrism in the Western World is contradicted by the relative electoral weakness of centrist parties. One possible explanation for the paradox is that centrists may be perceived as lacking the leadership or capability demonstrated by leaders of other ideologies. Another is that centrists are unable to increase their vote share because
10395-501: The centre and encourages polarisation. Anthony Downs proposed a model in which a centrist party emerges after the left-wing and right-wing parties diverge from a centrist-leaning public. Hans Daalder [ nl ] rejected the concept of a singular political centre entirely. When parties become more extreme, disaffected moderates may be enticed to join centrist parties when they would otherwise have been unwilling to join an opposing party. More broadly, polarisation can lead to
10530-528: The centre in the 1990s and 2000s. The centre-right, previously dominated by neoliberalism , became more accepting of the welfare state, and it showed more support for combatting poverty and inequality. This included the "kinder, gentler America" championed by George H. W. Bush in the United States, Die Neue Mitte ( transl. The New Centre ) of Gerhard Schröder in Germany, the British " Thatcherism with
10665-404: The centre is challenged by parties that seek to undermine the legitimacy of the political system. These parties come from both the left and the right and have different positions on how the government should function, which prevents them from unifying against the centre, giving the centre an opportunity to retain power. According to the median voter theorem , parties are incentivised to move toward
10800-444: The centre than right-leaning liberalism. Parties associated with social democracy and green politics commonly adopt the liberal position on social issues. Green parties , usually associated with left-wing politics, have a history of centrist economic policies in Central and Eastern Europe. Christian democracy , often considered a centre-right ideology, is sometimes grouped with the centre. Agrarianism may also be grouped with
10935-535: The centre when it maintained an element of working class revolution. Empires were forced to maintain the political centre, avoiding reactionary or revolutionary politics that could have affected their stability. Centrist liberalism was slower to develop outside of the great powers of Western Europe. By the 1830s, conservatism and radicalism in Western Europe began a shift toward moderation as they accepted ideas associated with centrist liberalism. The United Kingdom
11070-480: The centre, depending on how they seek votes. Some populist parties take centrist positions, basing their political position on opposition to the government instead of left-wing or right-wing populism . Centrism developed with the left–right political spectrum during the French Revolution , when assemblymen associated with neither the radicals nor the reactionaries sat between the two groups. Liberalism became
11205-662: The centre-right to form a rightward flank. Centrist liberalism has only a minor presence in the Middle East, where it is overshadowed by leftism and Islamism . More developed countries in Latin America often have prominent centrist parties supported by the middle class. These have historically included the Radical Civic Union of Argentina, the Brazilian Democratic Movement , the Radical Party of Chile , and
11340-452: The centre. Agrarian parties are associated with the interests of farmers and other people associated with agriculture . Decentralization and environmental protection are also major agrarian ideals. These parties often developed in European countries where there was not a strong liberal movement, and vice versa, but they became less relevant by the mid-20th century. Radical centrism
11475-510: The context of voting systems, PR means that each representative in an assembly is elected by a roughly equal number of voters. In the common case of electoral systems that only allow a choice of parties, the seats are allocated in proportion to the vote tally or vote share each party receives. The term proportional representation may be used to mean fair representation by population as applied to states, regions, etc. However, representation being proportional with respect solely to population size
11610-522: The debates in which they appeared. Debates in other state and federal elections often exclude independent and third-party candidates, and the Supreme Court has upheld this practice in several cases. The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) is a private company. The Free & Equal Elections Foundation hosts various debates and forums with third-party candidates during presidential elections. They can draw attention to issues that may be ignored by
11745-431: The disproportional results produced in single-member districts using FPTP or to increase the fairness produced in multi-member districts using list PR. PR systems that achieve the highest levels of proportionality tend to use as general pooling as possible (typically country-wide) or districts with large numbers of seats. In winner-take-all (or plurality voting) , the candidate with the largest number of votes wins, even if
11880-487: The dominant centrist ideology in the 18th century with its support for anti-clericalism and individual rights , challenging both conservatism and socialism . Agrarianism briefly existed as a major European centrist movement in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. The eugenics associated with the Holocaust caused centrists to abandon scientific racism in favour of anti-racism . Centrism became more influential after
12015-504: The elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions ( political parties ) among voters. The essence of such systems is that all votes cast – or almost all votes cast – contribute to the result and are effectively used to help elect someone. Under other election systems, a bare plurality or a scant majority are all that are used to elect candidates. PR systems provide balanced representation to different factions, reflecting how votes are cast. In
12150-419: The entire party.) Because of organizational and financial problems in the party, it opted to support the independent campaign of Ralph Nader as the best option for an independent of any stripe that year. While the endorsement generated publicity for Nader and the Reform Party, the party was only able to provide Nader with seven ballot lines down from the 49 of 51 guaranteed ballot lines the party had going into
12285-520: The far-right Centre Party in the Netherlands. Relative to left-wing and right-wing parties, centrist parties are infrequently studied in political science. Centrism is part of the left–right political spectrum that developed during the French Revolution . When the National Assembly was organised, reactionary conservatives coalesced in the seats to the speaker's right, while the radicals sat on
12420-559: The fragmentation of the left and right into multiple parties, allowing a centrist party to perpetually be the Condorcet winner . Polarisation may also weaken a centrist party if both ends of a polarised society are made to oppose centrism. Centrist parties make up a specific party family and have commonalities across different nations and political systems. In the Nordic countries where social democracy dominates politics, centrism competes with
12555-459: The given direction. Centrist parties in multi-party systems hold a strong position in forming coalition governments as they can accommodate both left-wing and right-wing parties, but they are often junior partners in these coalitions that are unable to enact their own policies. These parties are weaker in first-past-the-post voting and proportional representation systems. Parties and politicians have various incentives to move toward or away from
12690-689: The ideals that would accompany liberalism as it became the predominant centrist ideology in Europe. The political centre became a major force in England and France after the Napoleonic Wars . English centrism came from the Whigs , such as Henry Peter Brougham and Thomas Babington Macaulay . French centrism was supported by the Doctrinaires , such as Pierre Paul Royer-Collard and François Guizot . The Bonapartism of Napoleon III brought French conservatism to
12825-569: The ideological space around them is already occupied by other parties. Politicians with high approval might move to the centre to capitalise on their popularity with a larger voter base, while those seen as uncharismatic or incompetent may shift away from the centre to capture more reliable activist voters who will invest more into the politician's campaign. Opponents of centrism may describe it as opportunistic. Centrist-controlled governments are much rarer than left-wing or right-wing governments. While approximately 30% of world leaders were centrist in
12960-524: The immediate aftermath of the war. Under the leadership of Alcide De Gasperi , it absorbed the centre-left and centre-right to create a centrist grouping and combat the Italian Communist Party . The group fractured during a leftward shift in the 1950s and 1960s as the leadership invited socialists into the party, hoping to deprive the Communist Party of an ally. This created a scenario in which
13095-577: The late-19th century through the Mugwumps of the Republican Party . The radical movement gave way to centrism after the 1870s as they both coalesced around ideals of republicanism , secularism , self-education , cooperation , land reform , and internationalism . Toward the end of the 19th century, agrarianism became a significant political movement in Europe to represent farmers' interests. Western social science intertwined itself with centrism in
13230-714: The left to account for Nader, which lost him some valuable centrist voters to Bush. In cases with an extreme minor candidate, not changing positions can help to reframe the more competitive candidate as moderate, helping to attract the most valuable swing voters from their top competitor while losing some voters on the extreme to the less competitive minor candidate. of New York State Freedom Party This section includes only parties that have actually run candidates under their name in recent years. This section includes any party that advocates positions associated with American conservatism , including both Old Right and New Right ideologies. This section includes any party that
13365-445: The left-centre-right trichotomy is well established in political science , individuals far from the political centre may occasionally reframe it, with the far-right alleging that the centre is leftist and the far-left alleging that the centre is rightist. Likewise, they may allege that their more moderate counterparts, the centre-left and the centre-right , are actually centrists because they are insufficiently radical. Liberalism
13500-484: The major parties may rise to commit for or against the matter at hand, or at least weigh in. H. Ross Perot eventually founded a third party, the Reform Party , to support his 1996 campaign. In 1912 , Theodore Roosevelt made a spirited run for the presidency on the Progressive Party ticket, but he never made any efforts to help Progressive congressional candidates in 1914, and in the 1916 election , he supported
13635-421: The majority parties. If such an issue finds acceptance with the voters, one or more of the major parties may adopt the issue into its own party platform . A third-party candidate will sometimes strike a chord with a section of voters in a particular election, bringing an issue to national prominence and amount a significant proportion of the popular vote. Major parties often respond to this by adopting this issue in
13770-469: The margin of victory is extremely narrow or the proportion of votes received is not a majority. Unlike in proportional representation , runners-up do not gain representation in a first-past-the-post system . In the United States, systems of proportional representation are uncommon, especially above the local level and are entirely absent at the national level (even though states like Maine have introduced systems like ranked-choice voting , which ensures that
13905-421: The name). A drive to get the party on the ballot in all fifty states succeeded, although it ended with lawsuits in some regions over state ballot access requirements. In a few areas, minor parties became incorporated as state party organizations. At first, when the 1996 election season arrived, Perot held off from entering the contest for the Reform Party's presidential nomination, calling for others to try for
14040-468: The only nations to retain strong agrarian parties. The Holocaust ended support for any scientific racism and eugenics espoused by centrist liberals, as they instead adopted antiracism as scientific truth. Following World War II, middle class centrist parties in developed countries became less common as they moved leftward or rightward. Italy was dominated by the Christian Democracy party in
14175-405: The other factions. The fall of dictatorships in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Portugal in the 1980s was met by centrist parties that became the primary forces in transitioning the nations to democracy. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, centrist liberalism was seen as the dominant force in politics. The centre-left and the centre-right both moved closer to
14310-458: The other two were ever elected president in their own right, both being vice presidents who ascended to office upon the death of the president, and both became independents because they were unpopular with their parties. John Tyler was elected on the Whig ticket in 1840 with William Henry Harrison , but was expelled by his own party. Johnson was the running mate for Abraham Lincoln , who was reelected on
14445-560: The party claimed they used the names and addresses of petition signers as the basis of who received ballots. Primary ballots were sent by mail to designated voters. Eventually, Perot was nominated for president and he chose economist Pat Choate as his vice presidential running mate. The results of the party's presidential primary were: Perot 32,145, Lamm 17,121. Between 1992 and 1996, the Commission on Presidential Debates changed its rules regarding how candidates could qualify to participate in
14580-704: The party made the ballot in all 50 states and D.C. The Green Party gained access to 44 state ballots in 2000 but only 27 in 2004. The Constitution Party appeared on 42 state ballots in 2004. Ralph Nader, running as an independent in 2004, appeared on 34 state ballots. In 2008 , Nader appeared on 45 state ballots and the D.C. ballot. Presidential debates between the nominees of the two major parties first occurred in 1960 , then after three cycles without debates, resumed in 1976 . Third party or independent candidates have been in debates in only two cycles. Ronald Reagan and John Anderson debated in 1980, but incumbent President Carter refused to appear with Anderson, and Anderson
14715-414: The party nomination. This built up to the beginning of a splinter within the movement, when it was alleged certain problems in the primary process—such as many Lamm supporters not receiving ballots, and some primary voters receiving multiple ballots—were Perot's doing. The Reform Party claimed these problems stemmed from the petition process for getting the Reform Party on the ballot in all of the states since
14850-473: The party's presidential candidate. The dispute went to the courts and the FEC decided that Buchanan was the legitimate nominee and awarded him $ 12.6 million in campaign funds. Buchanan's vice presidential running mate was Ezola B. Foster . Buchanan got 449,225 votes, just 0.4 percent of the popular vote, and the party lost its matching funds for 2004. In 2002, Buchanan returned to the Republican Party. Following this,
14985-434: The political centre to maximise votes and to have the final say on closely-contested policies. Centrist parties face some intrinsic disadvantages when competing with left-wing and right-wing parties. Elections based on first-past-the-post voting or proportional representation provide less incentive for parties to hold centrist positions. Proportional representation systems weaken centrist parties because they incentivise
15120-399: The political centre, giving centrist parties hold a strong position in the formation of coalition governments, as they can accommodate both left-wing and right-wing parties. This gives them additional leverage in the formation of a minority government . When radical parties become viable, forming a coalition with the centre can force them to moderate. Once in a coalition, the centrist party
15255-442: The popular vote. The party has nominated other presidential candidates over the years, including Pat Buchanan and Ralph Nader . Its most significant victory came when Jesse Ventura was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998 , although he left the party shortly into his term. Donald Trump was a member of the Reform Party during his brief 2000 presidential campaign . In around the year 2000, party infighting and scandals led to
15390-445: The presidency since the Republican Party became the second major party in 1856 . Since then a third-party candidate won states in five elections: 1892 , 1912 , 1924 , 1948 , and 1968 . 1992 was the last time a third-party candidate won over 5% of the vote and placed second in any state. With few exceptions, the U.S. system has two major parties which have won, on average, 98% of all state and federal seats. There have only been
15525-404: The presidency. Perot received attention for focusing on fiscal issues such as the federal deficit and national debt ; government reform issues such as term limits , campaign finance reform , and lobbying reform; and issues on trade. A large part of his following was grounded in the belief he was addressing vital problems largely ignored by the two major parties. A Gallup poll showed Perot with
15660-405: The presidential debates. As Perot had previously done very well in debates, it was a decisive blow to the campaign when the Commission ruled that he could not participate on the basis of somewhat vague criteria — such as that a candidate was required to have already been endorsed by "a substantial number of major news organizations," with "substantial" being a number to be decided by the commission on
15795-549: The presidential nomination before dropping out several months prior to the convention were former Savannah State University football coach Robby Wells , economist Laurence Kotlikoff , historian Darcy Richardson, and former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer . The Reform Party co-nominated the American Delta Party 's presidential and vice-presidential candidates Rocky de la Fuente and Michael Steinberg as their 2016 presidential ticket. However, in 2016, De La Fuente ran as
15930-580: The race in August and endorsed Donald Trump and withdrew his name from the Florida ballot on August 23. The Reform Party platform includes the following: A noticeable absence from the Reform Party platform has been social issues, including abortion and gay rights. Reform Party representatives had long stated beliefs that their party could bring together people from both sides of these issues, which they consider divisive, to address what they considered to be more vital concerns as expressed in their platform. The idea
16065-476: The speaker's left. The moderates who were not affiliated with either faction sat in the centre seats, and they came to be known as the centrists. While liberalism began as a centre-left challenger to conservatism, it came to occupy the political centre of Western politics at the beginning of the 19th century as it also opposed radicalism and socialism. Liberal support for anti-clericalism and individual rights developed in opposition to conservatism, establishing
16200-589: The split came about when it was "...discovered [that the Reform Party] was a top-down party instead of a bottom-up organization." Although members of the group attempted to persuade former Colorado Governor Dick Lamm – Perot's chief rival for the nomination – to run for president as an Independent, he declined, pointing out that he had promised before running that he would not challenge the party's decision. During this time, Perot himself chose to concentrate on lobbying efforts through United We Stand America . When
16335-473: The ticket. The only person who announced such an intention was Dick Lamm , former Governor of Colorado . After the Federal Election Commission indicated only Perot and not Lamm would be able to secure federal matching funds—because his 1992 campaign was as an independent—Perot entered the race. Some were upset that Perot changed his mind because, in their view, Perot overshadowed Lamm's run for
16470-549: The total abolition of the upper class . Centrist liberalism seeks institutional reform, but it prioritises prudence when enacting change. European centrist parties are typically in favour of European integration and were the primary movers in the development of the European Union . Whether political positions are considered centrist can change over time; when radical positions become more widely accepted in society, they can become centrist positions. In multi-party systems ,
16605-455: The use of social programs. In many Latin American nations, opposing presidential candidates campaigned on similar platforms and often supported retaining their predecessors' policies without any significant changes, shifting the focus of elections to personality over ideology. Support for centrism declined globally after the 2007–2008 financial crisis as it was challenged by populism and political polarisation . As of 2015, centrists made up
16740-537: The voice of third party voters is heard in case none of the candidates receives a majority of preferences). In Presidential elections, the majority requirement of the Electoral College , and the Constitutional provision for the House of Representatives to decide the election if no candidate receives a majority, serves as a further disincentive to third party candidacies. In the United States, if an interest group
16875-486: The western liberal consensus. In the Pacific, New Caledonia did not form a strong centrist movement until the 1990s as a consequence of the independence question. Conservative groups had actively suppressed centrist figures like Caledonian Union leader Maurice Lenormand [ fr ] , who was accused of being a communist and prosecuted for allegedly organising the bombing of his own party newspaper's headquarters in
17010-562: The women, the Hispanics, the African-Americans, and the gay people? We must reject their tired old thinking...." On June 29, 2010, Reform Party National Committee chairman David Collison delivered Davis a cease-and-desist notice demanding that she immediately change the name under which she was seeking to run for governor. Davis made no attempt to obtain permission to run as an official Reform Party candidate, and therefore withdrew her use of
17145-534: Was a reference to David Duke , a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan . Buchanan decided to leave the Republican Party because: "The Republican Party at the national level has ceased to be my party. This divorce began around the end of the Cold War when President (George) Bush declared it to be a New World-order party and began intervening all over the world. While he and I were allies and friends during
17280-433: Was actually still a candidate. He ended up receiving about 18.9 percent of the popular vote, a record level of popularity not seen in an independent candidate since former President Theodore Roosevelt ran on the "Bull Moose" Progressive Party ticket in 1912. He continued being politically involved after the election, turning his campaign organization ( United We Stand America ) into a lobbying group. One of his primary goals
17415-478: Was challenged by right-wing conservatism and Catholicism. Centrism faced increased pressure beginning in the interwar period as left-wing politics saw a resurgence, meaning centrism was challenged from both directions. Agrarianism lost much of its influence in the 1930s as nations fell under right-wing dictatorships, and its return in the 1940s was short-lived as nations fell under communist rule. The Nordic countries, which were mostly spared from both movements, were
17550-847: Was excluded from the subsequent debate between Reagan and Carter. Independent Ross Perot was included in all three of the debates with Republican George H. W. Bush and Democrat Bill Clinton in 1992, largely at the behest of the Bush campaign. His participation helped Perot climb from 7% before the debates to 19% on Election Day. Perot did not participate in the 1996 debates. In 2000 , revised debate access rules made it even harder for third-party candidates to gain access by stipulating that, besides being on enough state ballots to win an Electoral College majority, debate participants must clear 15% in pre-debate opinion polls. This rule has been in effect since 2000. The 15% criterion, had it been in place, would have prevented Anderson and Perot from participating in
17685-487: Was nominated to be the party's 2008 presidential candidate. Frank McEnulty of California, the 2008 presidential candidate of the New American Independent Party , was nominated to be the party's 2008 vice-presidential candidate. David Collison of Texas was elected national chairman of the party. However, the party could not announce the results of the national convention on its web site until October because of
17820-459: Was reduced to making his points heard via a series of half-hour "commercials". In the end, Perot and Choate won 8 percent of the vote. By October 1997, factional disputes began to emerge with the departure of a group that believed Perot had rigged the 1996 party primary to defeat Lamm. These individuals eventually established the "American Reform Party" (ARP). The ARP is actually a minor political action committee . Then chairman, Roy Downing, said
17955-412: Was spared from the many revolutions during the early 19th century as its conservatives took a decisively centrist position, enlightened conservatism, and expressed willingness to compromise with the nation's strong radical element. As radicalism declined in Western Europe, liberalism and conservatism became the two dominant political movements. The United States saw a centrist liberal movement develop in
18090-527: Was the defeat of the North American Free Trade Agreement during this period. In 1995, Republicans took control of the House of Representatives , largely on the strength of the " Contract with America ", which recognized and promised to deal with many of the issues Perot's voters had mobilized to support in 1992. However, two of the major provisions (Constitutional amendments for term limits and
18225-601: Was to form a large coalition of moderates; that intention was overridden in 2001 by the Buchanan takeover which rewrote the RPUSA Constitution to include platform planks opposed to any form of abortion. The Buchananists, in turn, were overridden by the 2002 Convention which reverted the Constitution to its 1996 version and the party's original stated goals. The party's active state affiliates are: Centrism Centrism
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