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The original two power parties were the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans.
The Federalists started out with a bang, but then started losing power within the government. They melted down into complete obscurity during the War of 1812 when they advocated for the secession of New England states.
At this point, it became a one party system for all intents and purposes. The Democratic-Republican party held sway, but quickly devolved into two factions, the Jacksonians and the Adams faction. This devolution resulted in a new two party system comprised on the Democratic party and the Whig Party.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the Whig party melted down. This allowed for the emergence of the Republican party to fill the void.
Ever since then, the two parties in the United States of America has been a two party system comprised of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Third party candidates have been elected on the local level and some have served in congress, but since these two parties solidified their power in the eighteenth century, no third party candidate has ever been elected president.
This is not to say that third party runs have not had their effect, most notably in 1912 when a third party run by Theodore Roosevelt as the Bull Moose PArty candidate insured that the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, would win the election.
In more recent times, Ross Perot gained a significant number of votes in 1992, but no electoral college votes. His run seemingly had little impact on the outcome of the race, though, as his support emerged from both parties nearly equally. The run by Ralph NAder in 2000, though, had a significant impact on the outcome of the race and allowed George W. Bush to win even though he had a lower total in the national popular vote.
The two party system is so ingrained within our political structure that unless the Republican Party completely melts down over the next eight years (which would be about the right amount of time historically speaking), no third party will emerge to take the place of one of the two major parties any time soon.
Just thought I'd point this out.
Flame on.
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