The Muser
muse: v. to reflect or meditate…

3rd Party
Think Tank

A Summary

The Problem &
The Solution

The Principle of Minority Power

The Last
Successful
Third Party

Coalitions of Constituencies

Good Governance

Collaboration
and Consensus

Resources

Are You Interested?

Before We Build a Third Party…
…We Need a Third Party Think Tank
an Open-Source Approach to Politics

Consider This Premise:

A viable third political party can restore American democracy to the collaborative institution of government intended by the nation's founders.

The new party doesn't begin by electing a President, but by electing a few U. S. Senators and Representatives. It will need to sustain a block of minority political power.

When that is accomplished, it must govern with intelligence and integrity in order to survive and be effective.

No One Knows How
Many Americans seem to be ready for an overhaul of our political system, but no one alive today has ever done anything like this. It happened only once in American political history—when the Republican Party was born in the 1850s.

So we need to learn how to create an effective third party in the twenty-first century.

Can We Teach Each Other?
Perhaps we could begin with an incubator where the concepts and principles of new parties will be shaped. We need a new kind of think tank—an online think tank—where you and your internet-neighbors are the thinkers.

Do We Still Need This—After the '06 Elections?
We do. None of the fundamentals have changed. We now have divided power, which we've had many times before. It's probably more effective than monopoly power, but not much. Power divided between the Executive and Legislative Branches tends to fall into perennial deadlock. Nothing really bad happens—but nothing particularly good occurs either. And it always ends, returning eventually to monopoly power.

We almost have a minority power situation in the Senate. There are 49 Republicans, 49 Democrats, and two independents. If the independents were to form their own coalition, and not vote with the Democrats on Senate organization, perhaps they could begin the movement to minority power now. That won't happen, of course, because both of the independents are quasi-Democrats, and vote with the Democratic caucus.
(See the articles on The Principle of Minority Power and The Three-Party Solution)

So we're no closer to third party minority power than we were in the last congress. Permanent change requires organized effort.

Are You Ready?
If you're interested in helping create a third party think-tank, click here.

If you want to read more, click here.

Please Speak Up…

• If you have a response or an additional thought regarding something on this page,
• If you'd like to write an article for possible publication on these pages,
• If you have an idea or suggestion about developing the think tank…

…Send it along to: partyiii@greatreality.com