Political Party Marginalization

So we spent class Friday discussing marginalized groups and how they should be factored into the discussion of international relations. However, it made me think about how many groups in our society are at least somewhat "marginalized." Sure, there are lots of examples of people that actually suffer as a result of their marginalization, actually feel pain and are unable to live productive lives because they're in the almost ignored part of society. You can go to almost any country and pick out ethnic groups. You can look in America's history at various minority groups that entered the country. But that's not the first thing I thought of.

Maybe because I was still quite angry that the College Republicans had to cancel two extremely exciting events last week (the Carnivore Initiative on the quad that was supposed to have a 40-80 pound pig sitting there and the Young Guns meet and greet/book signing event), I thought of the marginalization (albeit on a smaller scale), of the various political parties in the United States.

Coming to American, I was told to “Have fun with my three Republican friends” and to be careful carrying a Wall Street Journal across campus. Upon arriving, I learned quickly that it wasn’t the case. At least on campus, there’s no marginalization of any one political party. People are pretty open to beliefs, although they’re willing to defend their own (which makes me think of a Voltaire quote, but regardless). Besides, most people here seem to be at least in part Libertarians (not anarchist libertarians, but socially liberal and fiscally conservative).

That avenue of political marginalization failing (considering I thought of it while watching the Ravens game, it’s understandable that it didn’t work out), I thought of Democrats in my county.

There are basically 18 registered Democrats in the county that actually vote along party lines. In 2006, during what amounted to a Democratic take over, we still pulled 75 percent for the Republican candidate for governor. Democrats don’t even bother running for most positions in the Northern part of the county because it is simply a waste of funds (unless you’re running for sheriff). The local newspaper even wrote about how they were in effect marginalized, resigned to the outer limits of political life without a say in the doings of the county. Although, to be fair, the party doesn’t have the strength to even speak out and try to make their voices heard.

I thought more about political parties in general, and the host of third parties, some radical and some not so much that basically get pushed aside. Besides a few enduring or noteworthy candidates (Roosevelt with the Bull Moose Party in the 1910s, Ross Perot in the 1990s, Ron Paul), third parties of marginalized to the complete ends of our political system. They have little to no say (a vote for one in anything but a very local election is basically a waste) and although some try to make a difference, they’re largely ignored.

I guess the question should be if it is worth paying attention to any marginalized political party. Should we apply the principals expressed in the article to our own country? Should we take into account other smaller political parties or parties that have no foothold in an area where we live? Or, rather, is it the job of the people to acknowledge and listen to so called marginalized parties or their job to make their voices and opinions heard, although it may seem like a lost cause?