Conscious Choice: Party Time

July 1996

Party Time

by Aliess M. Brady

Every time you make a decision, you’ve acted "politically." This may come as no surprise to you, but I emphasize it to drive home the point that political parties simply bring your interests to bear on a large scale. They are organized groups that represent people with similar ideals and goals.

In fact, third parties don’t always run candidates for state or federal elections due to the difficulties outlined in "Whither Democracy...." Often, their primary goal is to make people more aware of social and political issues and generate activism.

Nevertheless, Stanley Greenburg reported in The New Democrat that "More than 60 percent of the electorate now says it would vote for a third party candidate." What follows is a list of parties active on a national scale, about half of whom are running candidates in state and/or federal races this fall. I apologize in advance for any significant groups in Chicago I may have missed.

Natural Law Party
Dubbed the "New Age" party by media in California, the Natural Law Party’s candidates hail from the Maharishi Ayurvedic University and its Institute of Science, Technology, and Public Policy; proponents of Transcendental Meditation and Ayurvedic forms of health and healing as a means to effect political and social change.

The Party’s programs include:
• Natural health care programs to prevent disease, promote health, and significantly cut costs;
• Renewable energy production and energy conservation;
• Organic, sustainable agricultural practices to increase crop yields and profitability without hazardous chemical fertilizers and pesticides;
• Effective, field-tested community development and crime prevention programs;
• Lowering taxes responsibly through cost-effective solutions to problems, rather than by cutting essential services;
• Educational programs that develop the inner creative genius of the student;
• Reducing government waste and special interest control of our political process.

The Natural Law Party may yet distinguish itself this year by making it onto the ballot in all 50 states, as only three parties have done in the last 50 years. As of this printing, presidential candidate Dr. John Hagelin and vice presidential candidate Dr. Mike Tompkins are on the ballot in 21 states, including Illinois. For further information on the candidates, contact The Natural Law Party at 51 West Washington Avenue, Fairfield, IA 52556, 515-472-2040.

Green Party
The Green Party has historically been very strong in Europe, yet slow to develop a firm following here in the States. This is the famous Nader/Brown ticket of the Consumer Safety Advocate/Ralph Nader persuasion, thus far on the ballot in California, New Mexico, Maine, and Alaska.

The "four pillars" of the Greens are: Ecological Wisdom, Grassroots Democracy, Social Justice, and Nonviolence.

Nader’s primary focus is on grass-roots democracy. His goal is to get regular people to take responsibility for their vote by really learning how to work effectively within our political system. Of his social justice program, Nader says that all laws should apply to all "people," corporate or otherwise.

Prior to the presidential election in 1992, Nader published "The Concord Principles: An Agenda for a New Initiatory Democracy." All of the things he included in his democracy toolbox have fairly common characteristics. "They are universally accessible, can reduce government and other deficits, and are voluntary to use or band together around...."

Chicagoans: To speak with local representatives of the national organization, call Wes Wager at 312-243-5619 or Lionel Trepanier at 708-396-1624.

New Party
The New Party is a grassroots organization dedicated to a full return to government by the people, for the people, and of the people. They are currently focusing their energies on local issues and elections. The Chicago New Party Chapter ran four candidates in state and local primaries directly from Chicago’s neighborhoods last March.

Among the reforms they propose, the most notable are:
• The creation of a sustainable economy based on the responsible and reverent use of earth’s resources — taking no more than we need, replacing and reusing all that we can;
• A Bill of Rights for America’s Children providing equal access to comparable education, health care, nutrition, housing and safety; and
• Trade among nations that is consistent with mutual improvement in living standards, reduced cross-national inequalities and sustainable development.

For more information or a party newsletter, contact The Chicago New Party, 117 W. Harrison, 2nd floor, Chicago, IL 60605, 312-939-4136. Also on the Web.

Democratic Socialist Party
One of the oldest politically active parties in the United States, influential in the leadership of some of the first AFL unions, the Democratic Socialist Party believes that Democrats and Republicans are united in upholding "free enterprise," an unfair system in which the minority owned big businesses wield enormous political power and thereby subvert the functioning of political democracy. This Party proposes:
• Production for use instead of profit;
• The extension of democracy from politics to the economy;
• Defense of civil liberties;
• Opposition to militarism and war;
• Socialist-feminism; and
• Socialist-directed foreign policy.

For more information on the Democratic Socialist Party, contact Socialist Party USA, 516 W. 25th St., New York, NY, 10001, 212-691-0776.

Reform Party
The Reform Party is a national, educational organization focused on government and economic reform. A recent CNN-Time Magazine poll indicated that 13 percent of the respondents would vote for "whatever presidential candidate is nominated by Ross Perot’s party. Thus far, the Reform Party is on the ballot in 12 states, excluding Illinois. The Reform Party’s two major goals are to create a party chapter in every state and to qualify for the 1996 ballot in all 50 states.

A few of the issues on the platform of the Reform Party are:
• Campaign Finance Reform, and
• Tax Reform,
• Term Limits,
• A balanced budget amendment.

For more information, call 800-96-PARTY, or write Citizens to Establish a Reform Party, 7616 LBJ Freeway, Suite 727, Dallas, TX 75251.

Patriot Party
The Patriot Party also proposes reforms which will return more power to the individual through Electoral Reform, Government Process Reform, and Fiscal Responsibility, including measures which grant more fiscal responsibility and freedom via liberal capital gains taxes. They also support Environmental and National Resource policies which impose market rate fees, rather than below market rate fees, for the use of public lands for grazing, timber harvesting and mineral development, making them more precious to acquire.

The Patriot Party is not running any candidates this election. For more information, contact the National Coalition of Patriotic Americans at 462 N. Ellsworth, Salem, OH, 44460, 216-332-0100.

Peace and Freedom Party
The Peace and Freedom Party (PFP) was founded in 1967 in California. They are committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism, and racial equality. Very active in statewide initiative campaigns, the PFP helped to lower the voting age to 18 in 1968 and helped repeal the capital gains tax loophole in 1972.

The PFP stands for:
• Protection of the environment from pollution and nuclear waste;
• Honoring all treaties with Native Americans;
• Supporting the right of all people to self-determination (against impressing capitalism on developing or indigenous peoples);
• A socialist economy wherein industries, financial institutions and natural resources are owned by the people as a whole and democratically managed by the people who work in and use them.
• A workers’ democracy. All officials, if elected, are recallable at any time and none receives more than a workers’ wage.

The PFP candidates on the California ballot are Mary Hollis, Monica Moorehead, Gerald Horne and Jan Tucker. For more information, call or write: PO Box 422-644, San Francisco, CA, 415-897-0153.

Workers World Party
The Workers World Party is a Communist party in support of better conditions for blue-collar workers and minorities. They are running Monica Moorehead for President (Yes, she’s also listed on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket) and Gloria La Riva for Vice President.

Moorehead and La Riva have a combined history of nearly half a century in the workers’ struggle both here and abroad. They will be campaigning across the country this summer, marching in demonstrations in support of undocumented workers, people on welfare, and gay rights, among others. Their campaign includes a call to triple the minimum wage and arrest worker lay-offs.

For more information on the Workers World Party, call or write 55 W. 17th St., 5th floor, New York, NY 10011, 212-627-2994.

Libertarian Party
Libertarians seek a world of liberty in which all individuals are sovereigns in their own lives without interference from government or any authoritarian power. Therefore, they stand for the deregulation of just about everything you can imagine, including air, water, and natural resources beneath the earth’s surface.

Libertarian candidates are Harry Browne and Rick Thomkins.

For more information, call or write: 1528 Pennsylvania Ave., SE, Washington, DC 20003, 202-543-1988.

Constitution Party
The Constitution Party is a member of the Blue Ribbon Campaign for Free Speech On-Line. A very conservative party, hip to the web, the most interesting aspect of this platform is their demand for the release of all information related to Unidentified Flying Objects in conjunction with the right for all citizens to bear arms.

Their platform includes:
• Repealing all laws that violate the constitution of the United States;
• Lowering taxes by instituting a Flat Tax of 14 percent, the first $10,000 of which would be tax-free;
• Balancing the budget by cutting "unnecessary" spending;
• Limiting welfare to five years and providing job training to welfare clients;
• Denying welfare to teenage mothers;
• Making English the national language;
• Providing full support to the Space program;
• Finding ways to encourage business growth and stimulate the economy.

Recommend this page to a friend

Top Ten pages recommended to friends: