Sunday, November 17, 2013

Does Progressive Politics Need Third Parties?

In the early part of the last century, the rise of progressive politics, and the Progressive Party in particular, sparked a political reform movement in the United States than ultimately found the fulfillment of many goals in the period running from the New Deal to the Great Society.  Thereafter, third party movements in this country have tended to mostly be of the conservative variety (see:  George Wallace, 1968) or were non-partisan in nature (see:  Ross Perot, 1992 and 1996).

But, as Bill de Blasio showed this month, there may once again be room for third parties with progressive programs.  The Working Families Party might very well be one of many examples, as the country moves to the left and the two-party duopoly tries to cling to a Reagan-era view of what life in America should be like.

It's tempting to think that parties like the WFP would tend to dilute progressive strength at the polls, by dividing that potion of the vote with the Democrats.  I would have felt that way, about 20 years ago, but now I'm not so sure.  It may very well be the case that now, progressive third parties are what's needed to help the Democratic Party keep pace with the electorate of today, and not the more conservative electorate of the 1980s and 1990s.

Good luck to the WFP, and to de Blasio in particular.  The reactionaries are already lined up against him.  Let's hope he remembers where his electoral strength came from.

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