| Physical description |
xvi, 365 pages ; 23 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| Contents |
Section I. Challenging the Duopoly -- 1 People Want More Democracy 19 -- 2 Moment Is Ripe 43 -- Section II. Organizing the Angry Middle -- 3 Mad as Hell, Used and Abused 65 -- 4 Rise (and Fall) of the Reform Party 85 -- 5 Getting Past Perot 110 -- Section III. Organizing the Left -- 6 Compost Rotten Politics 145 -- 7 Nader's Gamble 175 -- 8 Duopoly Strikes Back 199 -- Section IV. Organizing from the Bottom Up -- 9 A Safe Way Out of the Box? 223 -- 10 Little Third Party That Could 258 -- Section V. Future -- 11 Prospects for America's Third Parties 279. |
| Summary |
More Americans now identify as political independents than as either Democrats or Republicans. Tired of the two-party gridlock, the pandering, and the lack of vision, they've turned in increasing numbers to independent and third-party candidates. In 1998, for the first time in decades, a third-party candidate who was not a refugee from one of the two major parties, Jesse Ventura, won election to state-wide office, as the governor of Minnesota. In 2000, the public was riveted by the Reform Party's implosion over Patrick Buchanan's presidential candidacy and by Ralph Nader's Green Party run, which infuriated many Democrats but energized hundreds of thousands of disaffected voters in stadium-sized super-rallies. What are the prospects for new third-party efforts? Combining the close-in, personal reporting and learned analysis one can only get by covering this beat for years, Micah L. Sifry's Spoiling for a Fight exposes both the unfair obstacles and the viable opportunities facing today's leading independent parties. Third-party candidates continue to be denied a fighting chance by discriminatory ballot access, unequal campaign financing, winner-take-all races, and derisive media coverage. Yet, after years of grassroots organizing, third parties are making major inroads. At the local level, efforts like Chicago's New Party and New York's Working Families Party have upset urban political machines while gaining positions on county councils and school boards. Third-party activists are true believers in democracy, and if America's closed two-party system is ever to be reformed, it will be thanks to their efforts. |
| Subject |
Third parties (United States politics)
|
|
United States -- Politics and government -- 1993-2001.
|
| ISBN |
0415931428 |
|
0415931436 (paperback) |
|
