Question

Which of the following is NOT true in U.S. elections?

a. A third party candidate can cause the candidates in a dominating party to lose votes.
b. Third parties give those voters who do not support the political views of either dominating party a chance to participate in government.
c. Third parties give independent candidates an opportunity to participate in government.
d. Third parties are often formed over a single issue.

From reading my textbook, all of the choices seem true. I saw on another website that someone said the answer was D, but my textbook says that "People have even formed parties over a single issue."

Help please!

Answer 1

I am inclined to agree with you. However if I had to choose one I think I would pick A. More often than not a third party candidate takes votes from the candidate who is NOT dominant. The third party candidate and the main stream challenger split the votes cast against the dominant party candidate.

Answer 2

I thought it wouldn't be A because my textbook says, "In 1912, when Theodore Roosevelt failed to gain the Republican Party's presidential nomination, he formed a third party called the Progressives to back his bid for the presidency. He did not win the election, but he took so many votes away from Republican candidate William Taft that Democrat Woodrow Wilson won."

Answer 3

Your book cites one instance that occurred over a hundred years ago. That doesn't prove that A is wrong.

Answer 4

Yes, that is one case where my theory fails. However usually I think the third party candidate is more in the nature of Ross Perot.

Answer 5

Could the answer be D? Third parties aren't usually formed over one issue, but they can be. And the answer choice says that they are often formed over one issue.

Answer 6

I am not going to disagree with you. I think a case can be made for A and for D.

Answer 7

1912 was an exceptional election. Usually, a third party candidate takes votes from both the dominant parties. I'd go with A, but you're right, all four choices can be and often are true. Single issue candidates/parties usually don't do well, but there have been several of them over our history. The Dixiecrats in 1948 is a good example. Strom Thurmond was a segregationist and that's what his third party was based on.

Answer 8

Thank you for helping

Answer 9

I am wondering how a third party give an independent a shot at the process....is that person with the third party or not? Independent, to me, is independent.

Answer 10

I was thinking that too. Should I put C then?