Question

Regarding Local, State and National Government to answer the following constructed response question:

Put the following in a paragraph.

In a 5th graders response, Define political parties.
In two sentences, in an 5th graders response Explain why voters might decide to support a third party.
In a 5th graders response in 3 Sentences , Describe two ways in which a strong third party would make the American political system more democratic. Use details and examples from 2001 to support your answer.

Answer 1

Political parties are groups of people who share ideas about how the government should work and who choose and support candidates for office. Some voters choose a third party because they want someone who talks about problems the big parties ignore. Other voters pick a third party when it matches their beliefs better on important issues like the environment or taxes. One way a strong third party would make American democracy better is by giving voters more choices so more people feel represented. A second way is by making the two big parties pay attention to new ideas and compete harder for votes, which can improve leaders’ answers to problems. For example, in 2001 many people were still talking about Ralph Nader and the Green Party after the 2000 election, and that discussion showed how a third party can both represent different views like environmental protection and push the major parties to respond.