Just as their name suggests, the Reform Party of America, which is a minor national political party, seeks broad reform of the current United States government. While they do not suggest a complete overhaul of major institutions (Congress, Supreme Court, etc) or revision of the Constitution, the primary goal and major platform of the American Reform Party is aimed at reforming the way government functions in the lives of everyday people and how representatives handle their duties. One of the key objectives of the Reform Party in America is to put power back in the hands of everyday citizens and to this end, many of the changes they wish to make are related to making government more accessible to everyone.

       In describing the American Reform Party, one writer notes that the Reform party “is committed to citizens who have been taken for granted and in some degree exploited” (Suarez 2006). This commitment to marginalized people is not all-encompassing, however, as it is mostly referring to the working class. The Reform Party in America does not, for instance, condone immigration and thus their appeal to marginalized Americans only applies to those who are already citizens and most notably, those who are considered “blue collar” or lower middle class. This emphasis is seen by their goals of putting politics in plain language, protecting workers from lower wages brought about by immigrant labor, and their battles against corporate control.

The Reform Party has a number of varied goals as part of their platform that range from campaign reform to changes in national healthcare policy. One platform of the Reform Party devotes considerable attention to is that of budgetary reform. For example, one initiative of the Reform Party is that budgetary reports that are distributed to members of the government be “translated” into ordinary language so that the average citizen can understand and interpret where their tax dollars are going. In addition to this, they also seek to have a detailed plan for balance of the national deficit in place and make this something that can be easily understood. Their two largest and most comprehensive goals and platform issues involve campaign reform and the creation of a new tax system. It is their hope to see campaigns be cheaper so that it increases the number of candidates who can afford to run, as well as their push for a measure to change voting days to the weekend so that working people can get to vote without having to compromise their paychecks.

In addition to this part of the platform of the Reform Party in America, they want more broad reform measures enacted that would change the way campaign money is collected for both members of Congress and the Senate. The Reform Party is also attempting to change the way the tax system works, although not in incredibly revolutionary ways. For instance, they advocate for a more fair system that is entirely electronic and more focused on meeting the needs of pre-existing programs as opposed to collecting for future goals. Another issue they address  has to do with lobbyists as they see them as having a potentially negative impact on the system. They want to introduce legislation aimed at barring elected officials from taking any money from outside interests and also to disallow former government officials from working as lobbyists once their careers in politics has ended.

Many of their goals stated above are included in the official platform of the Reform Party. Some of the other key issues that are part of the platform include new measures on immigration. They actively support bans on any foreign workers that are brought in for temporary reasons because they drive down minimum wages. They wish to enact a “temporary freeze” on all immigration unless those coming the country are parents or children of citizens and furthermore wish to protect the borders using National Guard troops. In other words, as part of their platform they are very anti-immigration and feel that immigrants cause problems for working Americans—the core constituency of their party. One of the most important aspects to this party’s platform is its wish to limit the power of large corporations. They see these as threats to their supporters, mostly American workers, and as a result support legislative actions to curb corporate influence in government by limiting the power such lobbyists might have. In addition, they seek to create corporate oversight programs to ensure that the power of large companies is kept at bay.

The party came about in 1992 when Ross Perot decided to split from the two-party system, claiming it did not offer enough to Americans. While it seems that many of its principles are more conservative, they do differ from traditional Republicans in several ways, especially as far as healthcare and budgetary concerns go. While they are a minor party, they did experience quite a bit of popularity in past elections, at least for a minor party.  “In 1992, Perot captured almost 20 percent of the popular vote and as the Reform Party’s nominee in 1996, he was able to attract over 8 percent of the popular vote” (Stone 2004). Currently, the Reform Party seems to have waned and although they do have a few Congressional seats in Florida and Michigan, they are by no means a dominant or viable third-party candidate for the next election. It is slightly difficult to reconcile their appeals to marginalized peoples in America with their tough stance on immigration, and in many ways they are simply an American workers party. They champion causes important to the average working people and their fights against large companies, workers rights, and wage issues gains them some support still, despite the fact that they have all but disappeared from the forefront of third-party political discussions.

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References

The Reform Party: Official Website. http://www.reformparty.org

Stone. (2004). Party Members in a Three-Party Election: Major Party Reform and Activism in the 1996 American Presidential Election. Party Politics, 10(4), 445

Suarez, Diana. (2006). Reform Party to open office in San Luis. The Sun (Yuma AZ). Apr 14.