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Majority of Americans want a third party

Support for a third major party has reached a record high as Democrats and Republicans feud over reopening the government.
Federal workers demonstrate for an end to the U.S. government shutdown
Federal workers demonstrate for an end to the U.S. government shutdown on the west front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, October 13, 2013.
By Jane Timm, Jane C. Timm

A majority of Americans want a third major party, a new Gallup poll found.

Marking the highest point in the Gallup poll’s ten-year history, 60% of Americans said they think Democrats and Republicans aren’t doing “an adequate job of representing the American people” and do “such a poor job that a third major party is needed.”

The poll surveyed 1,028 adults from Oct. 3-6, just days into a federal government shutdown that has lasted a full two weeks.

Just 26% of Americans said the country’s two major parties were representing Americans.

Self-identified Democrats and Republicans were equally likely to see the need for a third party—49% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans said they saw the need for a third party—but a full 71% of Independents supported the idea of a third party.