If you are a loyal BuyPartisan user (thanks again for your support!), you know that sometimes “Other” appears as a political affiliation that is often displayed.
Right right now, the BuyPartisan “Other” category consists of giving from Independents, Super PAC’s or a multiparty. We thought it would be a good idea to shed light on just exactly what “Others” are out there.
We all know that the two top parties in the country are the Democratic and Republican, but five parties – not two – are considered major political parties in this country. There are also the Libertarian, Green, and Constitution Parties.
This is where things start getting interesting. An additional 28 minor political parties operate nationwide and a smorgasbord of regional parties (region defined as “state”) operate, um, regionally.
I picked out a handful that just sounded interesting based on their names to profile, so here are 8 national political parties you have probably never heard of (plus a bonus at the end):
America’s Party
Formed in: 2008
Major platform: Reform the tax structure by advocating the repeal of the 16th Amendment (formed by supporters of Alan Keyes).
Citizen’s Party of the United States
Formed in: 2004
Major platform: Focuses heavily on middle class economic issues and government reform, like fair trade (not free trade) agreements, an end to outsourcing American jobs and technology, etc.
Justice Party
Formed in: 2011
Major platform: Removing corporate influence and other concentrated wealth from politics.
Peace and Freedom Party
Formed in: 1967
Major platform: Socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality; strong advocate of environmentalism, aboriginal rights, rights to sexuality, health care, abortion, education, housing, employment and a socialist-run economy.
United States Pirate Party
Formed in: 2006
Major platform: Reform of intellectual property laws to reflect open source and free culture values, government transparency, protection of privacy and civil liberties, rolling back corporate personhood and corporate welfare, evidence-based policy, and egalitarianism and meritocracy based on the hacker ethic.
Socialist Alternative
Formed in: 1986
Major platform: Against budget cuts in public services; in favor of living wage jobs and militant, democratic unions; against racism and attacks on immigrants.
United States Marijuana Party
Formed in: 2002
Major platform: End the war on drugs and legalize marijuana.
Unity Party of America
Formed in: 2004
Major platform: Support for a Balanced Budget Amendment, a shift of Federal taxes from income to carbon emissions, a full health care tax deduction for those “forced” to pay for their own health coverage, a “Tithe Pool” to guarantee entitlements on a year-by-year basis, term limits of two terms for US Senators and four terms for US Representatives, outlawing the drawing of legislative districts along partisan lines (i.e., gerrymandering), and appointing panels of retired judges to oversee the drawing of legislative districts.
And just for fun, here is the most colorful of the regional parties:
Rent is Too Damn High Party, New York
Formed in: 2005
Major platform: Lower rents in the city of New York to relieve financial stress, end poverty, and increase employment via the secondary economic stimulus effects of rent relief.
Thank you so much to Wikipedia for the above information. If your appetite for learning about different political parties has not been sated, there are an additional 88 political parties you can read about that were formed at one time or another but are no longer in existence.
