Whenever they have presidential debates during the presidential elections every 4 years we always hear from the Republicans and the Democrats during the debates. But we never hear from the Independents, Libertarians, Greens, or anyone else. Back in '92 we had an Independent debater but since then, no one. Why is that?
2007-01-25 15:06:04 · 6 answers · asked by LaissezFaire 6 in Politics & Government ➔ Politics
I know that these candidates don't have the same chance of winning an election as the Democrats and Republicans and I know that their support base isn't as strong but at least treat as equally as you would Democrats and Republicans.
2007-01-25 15:06:34 · update #1
Wow, so you have to be wealthy to be elected or have equal representation.
Some Democracy.
2007-01-25 15:31:12 · update #2
The people in power set the "rules". Why would someone in power give up the opportunity to keep that power? The "rules" say that only parties that have a certain amount of support can participate, but that means it becomes almost impossible for other parties to gain the support needed to actually participate.
Canada is dealing with a similar issue at the moment. There is a big movement among Canadians to include other parties in the debates, especially the Green Party. A recent poll showed that a whopping 77% of Canadians either "supported" or "strongly supported" the inclusion of the Green Party in federal election debates. I suspect that if Americans banded together and demanded a different style of debate, the "rules" might be forced to change.
It is a serious infringement on democracy, free speech, and freedom of choice to not include the other parties. I am really surprised that the US, with all the talk about freedom you hear, allows this supression of political freedom to go unchecked.
Check out this website. Start a similar movement in the US!
http://www.demanddemocraticdebates.ca/
http://www.greenparty.ca/downloads/Media_Release20070122A.pdf
2007-01-25 23:38:03 · answer #1 · answered by crazyperson1972 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The two major parties and the media, including the Federal Election Commission, came up with a scheme that it you didn't qualify for federal funding - no debates. A candidate must receive some % of support to be invited. I believe its 10%.
So far, most minority party candidates don't have the support.
2007-01-25 15:23:50 · answer #2 · answered by jack w 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When Ross Perot got to participate in debates he got over 20% of the vote... that made the good ole boys nervous.
There is a requirement of a certain percentage of sample voter support before you are allowed to participate. And after Ross did well they (D's and R's) raised that percent requirement before the next election.
The established two party system is what the entrenched career politicians want.
2007-01-25 15:24:32 · answer #3 · answered by sociald 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Didn't Ralph Nader enter one of the debates in 2000 or 2004?
2007-01-25 15:20:58 · answer #4 · answered by MoltarRocks 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ross Perot did.
2007-01-25 15:52:46 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because no one is going to vote for them.
2007-01-25 15:24:00 · answer #6 · answered by asmith1022_2006 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋