Law and Government

Law and Government Minor Political Parties

The following assignment is due on Friday, Dec. 11 This assignment must be typed. http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm

Additional Resources: http://ballotpedia.org/List_of_political_parties_in_the_United_States http://www.dcpoliticalreport.com/PartyLink.htm http://www.teaparty.org/ https://www.teapartypatriots.org/

1. Go to the “Politics1” Website listed above and browse the “third” parties.

2. Review the “Big Three” – Constitution Party, Green Party, Libertarian party.

a. Write a brief historical background of each party. When and why was this party formed? We are interested in the social context here. What were the conditions that gave rise to the formation of this party.

b. Describe the philosophy of each party regarding the role of government in American life.

c. Identify what type of party it is (read pp. 132-134 in your text for a description of four types of parties) and explain. In addition, identify what role this party typically takes: Does it act as an innovator, spoiler, critic?..and, of course, explain with examples.

d. Have these parties run candidates for office? How successful have they been? How would you explain this success (or lack thereof?) Even if they have not won elections, have they impacted election results?

e. How does this party seek to advance their particular ideology or issues? Do they do so by running candidates for public office, by influencing the major parties, trying to sway public opinion, other?

f. What is your analysis of this party? Do you agree/disagree with their ideas? Do they present issues that you think should be furthered?

3. Repeat the procedure outlined in #2 above for the TEA Party and one other minor party of your choice. 4. What is your take on the TEA party? Is it an independent party of its own or a part of the Republican party? How has the TEA party changed the Republican party, if at all?

Extra Credit:

Produce a poster profiling one of the parties from above. Your poster should convey the information you collected (above) in a visual format: Pictures, slogans, cartoons, etc.