Has The Third Party in American National Politics Been Historically Unsuccessful in Elections?

Has the third party in American national politics been historically unsuccessful in elections? If so, why? If not, why not?
Name:
Course:
Tutor:
Institution Date:
The third party in electoral politics refers to any other party contending for votes and has continuously failed to outpoll its two major rivals in elections. In the American context, the third party refers to any other party running for polls apart from the two major parties, namely the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Historically, American third parties have been unsuccessful.
Third parties in the USA have minimal chance of being elected into office. Several reasons are associated with this trend. The two popular parties forged their way during the ratification of the constitution debate. On one side were the Federalists and the other, the anti-federalists. The main reason third parties have been unsuccessful is the structuring of election is the USA. Election of Congress and state legislatures' representatives happen in single-member districts, and the candidate with the massive votes win. Since only a single person can win, competing candidates are bound to put themselves in two strategic competing parties so as to maximize their winning chances. Shigeo & Snyder (2005) say that the reason there are no viable third parties is because institutional arrangements such as single-member districts do not provide incentives for voters to support third party candidates.
Another reason third parties have been unsuccessful is the ballot access laws. Sometimes the criteria for attaining ballot access in all the states is...