"For much of our nation's history, we have enjoyed the political stability that comes from a two party system. Three's a Crowd probes how third-party candidates can alter party coalitions and spur the two major parties to embrace new policies. It's a fascinating read for anyone with an interest in politics."
—Bill Clinton, President of the United States, 1993-2001 "I am sending my copy of this book by messenger over to Mayor Bloomberg with a note: 'Run, Mike, Run!' If the Mayor wants to shape American politics over the next decade, he has to read Three's a Crowd. He'll see that his billions will be far less influential as a private citizen than his ideas as a candidate in a presidential campaign; you can't buy with big bucks the excitement that comes from big ideas shaking the ground beneath the feet of the status quo. That for me is the message of this superb account by Rapoport and Stone of Ross Perot's campaign in 1992 and of third parties in particular."
—Bill Moyers, Bill Moyers Journal "The definitive account of the Perot movement and an insightful and convincing analysis of how third parties and independent presidential candidates can influence election outcomes and alter the coalitional bases of the two major parties. With speculation rampant about a possible independent or third-party presidential candidacy, Rapoport and Stone's Three's a Crowd offers a rich and rewarding guide for thinking about the 2008 election."
—Thomas E. Mann, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, and coauthor of The Broken Branch "Powerfully persuasive in its exhaustive research, Three's a Crowd may surprise many by revealing the long-ignored but pivotal impact of Perot voters on every national election since 1992."
—Clay Mulford, General Counsel to the 1992 Perot Presidential Campaign and to the Reform Party Three's a Crowd begins with the simple insight that third parties are creatures of the American two-party system, and derive their support from the failures of the Democratic and Republican parties. While third parties flash briefly in the gaps left by those failures, they nevertheless follow a familiar pattern: a sensation in one election, a disappointment in the next. Rapoport and Stone conclude that this steep arc results from one or both major parties successfully absorbing the third party's constituency. In the first election, the third party raises new issues and defines new constituencies; in the second, the major parties move in on the new territory. But in appropriating the third party's constituents, the major parties open themselves up to change. This is what the authors call the "dynamic of third parties." The Perot campaign exemplified this effect in 1992 and 1996. Political observers of contemporary electoral politics missed the significance of Perot's independent campaign for the presidency in 1992. Rapoport and Stone, who had unfettered—and unparalleled—access to the Perot political machine, show how his run perfectly embodies the third-party dynamic. Yet until now no one has considered the aftermath of the Perot movement through that lens. For anyone who seeks to understand the workings of our stubbornly two-party structure, this eagerly awaited and definitive analysis will shed new light on the role of third parties in the American political system. Ronald B. Rapoport is John Marshall Professor and Chair, Department of Government, College of William & Mary. Walter J. Stone is Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, University of California, Davis. Cover photo © Joe Angeles / WUSTL Photo Services |
