The Greens, the Libertarians and the future of parties

America is, without question, a two-party political system. We have the Democrats and the Republicans and every election cycle, you spend your time finding out what each side says that is a little different and pick your poison. Most people are vaguely aware of "third" parties, but often consider that voting for a third party candidate is the equivalent of throwing away a vote.

I wanted to dig into the ideology of two of the larger third parties: The Green and the Libertarian party. In each case, I think their ideologies will drive the agendas of the Democrats and Republicans.

The Green Party

The Green Party platform is based on fighting for democracy, social justice, ecological sustainability and economic justice. In many ways, they represent the most coherent statement of the liberal worldview I can find anywhere.

The Green Party is rabidly grassroots and has a deep, core distrust of the current political process based on the abuse of corporate funds within government. At the initial meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1984, the roots of the party adopted their first 10 Key Values and began to function and grow as a political force. At one point in the history of the party there was debate over whether they should be engaging in the current political system and running for office at all. The national Green Party formed in 2001, bringing together the varied state Green parties around the country.

One of the most visible members of the Green Party is Ralph Nader, who has run for president repeatedly since 1972, often as the Green Party candidate. One of the biggest complaints I hear about the Green Party is that Nader running for president in 2000 cost Al Gore the presidency because Nader took the votes that would have otherwise gone to Gore without having any real chance of winning himself. It brings up the larger issue of why third parties field candidates at all, and my favorite thing about the Green Party website is that they have a page called "Why We Run" to answer that question.

While there have never been any Green Party members of Congress, there have been several state house representatives in states as diverse as Maine, California and Arkansas. The current mayor of Richmond, California, Gayle McLaughlin, is a Green Party member. If you're interested in finding out more or want to keep up with the latest, you can find the Green Party newsletter here.

The Libertarian Party

The Libertarian party has one of the best slogans I have ever seen for a political party: "Minimum Government, Maximum Freedom." That makes me want to at least have a beer with them.

Founded in 1971 by the disillusioned from both major political parties, they now have a stellar mission statement:

"Libertarians believe the answer to America's political problems is the same commitment to freedom that earned America its greatness: a free-market economy and the abundance and prosperity it brings; a dedication to civil liberties and personal freedom; and a foreign policy of non-intervention, peace, and free trade as prescribed by America's founders."

When I think of the Libertarian party in broad strokes, they are progressive on social issues and conservative on financial and government size issues. For example, Johnson is in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and marijuana, but also in favor of severely cutting spending in the face of national debt. He has a great op ed about "electing the status quo" that I highly recommend.

In 2012, the Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, former governor of New Mexico, received over 1.2 million votes for the presidency. That's impressive, and exponentially higher than any of the other current third parties. At the end of 2012, 154 libertarians held elected office.

In that respect, I think they will see either a lot of growth in the coming decades as social norms shift left, or they will see their general platform come to be adopted by the national Republican Party. More and more people I meet want some combination of progressive social reform along with a functioning government in Washington that lives within our means and pays our bills without passing the buck to the children of the future.

Is the libertarian platform the right mix for the future of the Republican party, or will the social issues differ too much from the Republican Christian core? What do you think? How much do you think each of these parties will drive the agendas of the major parties? Do you think either will rise?

Image courtesy of Tom Lodhan via flickr