2010 Essays

A New Third Party in America? What It Would Take

Mitchell, Lincoln A.

The emergence of a third party in the current American political environment is unlikely. Third parties, even short lived ones, do not emerge by occupying a space on a left right political spectrum, but by rallying voters around a specific issue that is not being addressed satisfactorily by either of the major parties. Today, the issue which has the potential to do this, but has been largely overlooked is the question of whether the U.S. should pursue an isolationist or interventionist foreign policy.