Why do minor parties have difficulty succeeding in the US electoral system?

Answer 1

One of the major parties takes over their ideas ^^

Answer 2

Because companies know they are more likely to get political support if they help out a major party, and that is where the majority of their contribution goes. The smaller parties have no funds, no support and no way to get the votes they need.

Answer 3

Once a two party system became dominant, any third party that had enough appeal to threaten one of the two parties would cause one or both of the two parties to adopt enough of the platform of the third party to keep it from becoming successful. Third party candidates jeopardize the candidates most like them by taking votes away from that candidate. The result is a situation like Gore v Bush, where Ralph Nader is widely blamed for taking enough votes away from Gore to allow Bush to win.

Answer 4

In order to win most elections, a candidate needs to get more votes than anyone else in the race (for President, it's a little more complicated due to the presence of the Electoral College, but the same basic idea still applies). Minor parties are minor parties because they don't have enough supporters to be able to gather more votes than the larger parties can.

Answer 5

The main reason is numbers. Minor parties by definition do not have as many people as the major parties. The fewer people cast fewer votes which loses to the more votes cast by the major party members.

Answer 6

Minor party candidates have little chance of winning in American election because those without wide support, also exist