THIRD parties have often served a useful purpose in American politics, but they are expected to fold their tents and fade away once that purpose has been served. Ordinarily they are born out of concern about some particular issue— Abolition, Free Silver, Prohibition—and disappear when one or the other of the two major parties co-opts the issue, or it simply dies. Even when the parties are founded with some grander notion, either the Republicans or the Democrats tend to be the ultimate beneficiary—as when the Democrats sucked the juice out of the Progressive party, and the GOP allowed itself to become the vehicle of the modern conservative movement.
The election laws of most states, moreover, are carefully designed to encourage this state of affairs, making it difficult for a new party to get on the ballot and almost impossible for it to stay there. Candidates, what’s more, are ordinarily not permitted to combine votes they receive on separate lines.
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