Date of Award

5-2025

Document Type

Honors Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Political Science

Advisor/Committee Chair

Patricia Strach

Abstract

There has been a lot of debate in academia over the reasons that third parties have traditionally fared poorly in the United States. Such explanations have largely ignored discussion of how the public's perception of third parties have changed over the course of 120 years' worth of elections and political evolution. By first taking a broad look at the prevalence of key terminology, and then drawing connections between the coverage of various campaigns, it can be noted that while third parties have lost a significant amount of esteem, the two party system itself has also declined relative to the mid 20th century, when it was widely seen as stabilizing and beneficial force in American politics.

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