How come US third parties never get elected to national level but at the local level they succeed? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) by TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I am aware of the first-past-the-post system, but UK and Canada also have the same but their third parties gain national/federal seats.

In the US, it's always either Democrats or Republicans. There are third parties on state and county level but never succeed on the national level. How come? Is the electoral college somehow impeding third parties?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

The vast majority of our nation only consumes media that’s pushed to them. Whether it’s from watching cable, streaming services, pop-up ads, or social media, they’re only getting coverage from the two primary candidates.

The Republican play has been dividing the left for decades, so Democrats are naturally skeptical of a third-party candidate being run as a spoiler. It doesn’t help that Jill Stein has run so many times, and has had some questionable alliances.

[-] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 1 points 2 weeks ago

I'm personally a person with no party at this point. Democrats don't represent my views, they were just closer, but there's no one who does who runs at a national level

[-] disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

Welcome. I’ve felt like that since 2000. I change my registration to match the challenging party for that election so I at least have a say in the primary. US citizens barely vote in the incumbent’s primary, so your vote may actually matter in the challenger’s primary.

this post was submitted on 11 Nov 2024

8 points (72.2% liked)

Ask Lemmy

27043 readers

427 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.