Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View

We don’t just need a third party, we need at least 20 of them….

I would love to see true representative democracy with multiple parties representing multiple interests being forced to negotiate to a consensus…

It would be so much harder to buy 20 parties than 2 or 3….

Fifty-two percent of Americans believe the Republican and Democratic parties do such a poor job of representing the people that a third party is needed. Forty percent believe they do an adequate job. The percentage calling for a third party is down from August, when it tied its high of 58%.

Support for a third party has fluctuated since October 2003, when Gallup first asked this question. The majority of Americans thought a third party was not needed at that time. Since then, Americans have generally favored a third party, but twice there has been an even division of opinion — both of which occurred in the fall of an election year.

Majority of Republicans Back Third Party for First Time

Gallup has always found political independents to be most desirous of a third party, and 68% currently are. But right now there is also a significant party gap, with 52% of Republicans favoring a third party, compared with 33% of Democrats.

This is the first time Gallup finds a significantly higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats in favor of a third party. During much of President Bush’s term, the opposite was true, with Democrats more likely to favor the formation of a third party. That gap narrowed in 2007, after the Democrats’ victories in the 2006 midterms, and there has been a minimal difference between the two parties until the current poll.

via Support for Third U.S. Party Dips, but Is Still Majority View.