Exodus of the American Voter

A short political history and the rise of right and left extremism in government

Both left and right political extremism has driven voters away from the polls

A Growing number of voters want a third party and centrist candidates

In order to understand how the political parties have changed and evolved over time and created the current public distrust of the two established political parties, I am including a short history of politics in the United States. Millions of Americans have become so apathetic they no longer bother to vote in state or federal elections feeling like candidates are only paying lip service to their concerns.

Third parties first arrived on the scene as far back as 1828 with the “anti-freemason party.” The freemasons later merged with the Whigs and became one of two parties prior to 1856. The Whigs political platform was based on hate for the freemasons. Although the anti-freemasons failed to establish a third party, they were the first to implement party conventions and platforms. Twenty years later the Whig’s collapsed, failing to reconcile the issues of slavery, immigration and states’ rights within their ranks. It didn’t help when Democrats publicly ousted Whig President Franklin Pierce in the middle of his term. By 1860 the Democratic Party had separated into Northern and Southern Democrats, leading to more splits within the party. Sound familiar?