Third parties rarely win in presidential elections because the Republican and Democratic parties have long dominated the American political landscape. Since 1856, every president elected by U.S. voters has belonged to one of those two parties. Almost every state's governor, members of Congress, and state legislators are also members of these two political groups. But they are not the only political parties active in the United States. There are more than 30 others, which are referred to as third parties. Third parties have always been a part of America's political process and although a third-party candidate has never won the presidency, the organizations play several important roles -- from educating voters on specific issues to affecting real change in government policy. For example, Ralph Nader in 2000 entered the Presidential race in Spring 2000 claiming that his economic policies could solve the deficit problem created by Reagan and Bush. He was way ahead in the polls at first and this caused the Democrat Party to adopt his policy.…
