Two-party system
Third parties, meaning a party other than one of the two dominant parties, are possible in two-party systems, but they are often unlikely to exert much influence by gaining control of legislatures or by winning elections. While there are occasional opinions in the media expressed about the possibility of third parties emerging in the United States, for example, political insiders such as the 1980 presidential candidate John Anderson think the chances of one appearing in the early twenty-first century is remote. A report in "The Guardian" suggested that American politics has been "stuck in a two-way fight between Republicans and Democrats" since the Civil War, and that third-party runs had little meaningful success.
Youth vote in the United States
The winner-take-all system in the United States limits the success of third party candidates who may have a difficult time achieving an electoral majority. Young people are increasingly supporting third party candidates, though the American political system has continued to foster a two-party system. In 1992, Ross Perot, a third party candidate for president, won 22 percent of the eighteen-to-twenty-four-year-old vote, his strongest performance among any demographic group". These third party candidates who gain such support from the youth of the U.S. do not benefit from major party coffers - they must campaign by themselves.