Green Party (United States)

In United States politics, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. The party first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. The FEC-recognized national committee of the party is the Green Party of the United States (although there remains also a mostly-defunct separate Green national political organization, the Greens/Green Party USA).

Related Topics:
United States - Green Party - Third party - 1980 - Ralph Nader - 1996 - 2000 - FEC - National committee of the party - Green Party of the United States - Greens/Green Party USA

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Unlike Green parties in other nations, Greens in the United States have won elected office mostly at the local level; most winners of public office in the United States who are considered Greens have won nonpartisan-ballot elections (that is, the winning Greens won offices in elections in which candidates were not identified on the ballot as affiliated with any political party). The highest-ranking elected Green in the nation is currently John Eder, a State Representative in Maine. At the federal level, third parties generally poll poorly in the United States. This is largely due to the fact that the United States is not a parliamentary democracy, so third parties cannot form coalitions after an election to gain power. The reason third parties poll poorly may also be due to the country's use of first-past-the-post voting and concerns of third party votes causing a spoiler effect, circumstances predicted by Duverger's law.

Related Topics:
Local - John Eder - State Representative - Maine - Parliamentary democracy - First-past-the-post voting - Spoiler effect - Duverger's law

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Greens emphasize decentralization and local autonomy, in keeping with the Green commitment to non-hierarchical participatory democracy, so it is perhaps not surprising that the strength of the Green Party does not derive from a central national organization.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~