WASHINGTON, DC, October 28, 2018 (ENS) – There is a need for a third, major political party, say a majority of Americans, 57 percent, while 38 percent believe the current two party system does an adequate job of representing the people, according to the latest Gallup Poll figures, released Friday.
These views have been consistent since 2013.
Americans’ views of the two-party system have soured since Gallup’s initial 2003 measurement when a solid majority said the Republican and Democratic parties were doing an adequate job.
More than 40 percent continued to feel this way through 2012, but since then no more than 38 percent have believed the two parties are adequate while as many as 61 percent have said a third party is needed.
The latest results come from Gallup’s annual Governance survey, conducted September 4-12, as many midterm election races for governor, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate feature pitched battles between Republican and Democratic candidates.
Typically, majorities of Americans have supported a third major political party. However, there have been two major departures from the trend in 2008 and 2012, both presidential election years.
Independents are the political partisan group most supportive of a third party. Seventy-two percent of political independents support a third major political party.
Both Democrats and Republicans typically have similar levels of support for a third major political party.
However, this year there is a substantial, 16-percentage-point gap between the two partisan groups, with 54 percent of Democrats and 38 percent of Republicans supporting a third major political party. A similar gap was seen from 2003-2006 when the Republicans also held control of both the presidency and Congress.
In a separate poll released October 23, Gallup found that President Donald Trump’s job approval rating has improved to 44 percent each of the past two weeks. Trump’s weekly approval rating was 38 percent in mid-September and had been averaging 40 percent from late July through late September.
These latest results are based on an October 15-21 polling of a random sample of 1,507 U.S. adults.
Gallup interviews U.S. adults aged 18 and older living in all 50 states and the District of Columbia using a dual-frame design, which includes both landline and cellphone numbers, using random-digit-dial methods. Gallup conducts interviews in Spanish for respondents who are primarily Spanish-speaking.
Gallup interviews a minimum of 1,000 U.S. adults aged 18 and older for each GPSS survey. Gallup purchases samples for this study from Survey Sampling International.
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