American Reform Party
In 1996 members of the Reform Party voted to hold a meeting with the intentions of “establishing the Reform Party as a democratic, self governing, free-standing national political party.” The party then sent interested people a meeting call by mail to establish formation in the National Steering Committee. In September of 1996, six of the original fifteen states were seated as uncontested state delegations according to Robert’s Rule of Order. This meeting passed the following recommendations such as forming a steering committee, communications to join, keeping state representatives informed, setting bylaws for the committee, expanding state seats when necessary, and proposing the party constitution. The National Reform Party Committee, now the American Reform Party, split from Ross Perot’s reform party because they were believed to be “unfocused and anti-democratic” and had clashing views with Ross Perot. The American Reform Party focused on getting away from a single-individual’s influence and “reenergize citizen activism in the American political system.”
The American Reform Party’s platform’s focal point is to reduce government spending, national debt, the government size, and campaign costs. The American Reform Party is focused on granting fair access for third party candidates, replacing the Electoral College with the popular vote, publishing state wide voter guidelines, and limiting the terms for elected officials, legislative leaders, and committee chairs. Another objective of the platform is focusing on foreign affairs, trade policies, and immigration affairs. Interest in foreign affairs will keep the United States current with the United Nations and humanitarian needs as leaders of the free world. Most importantly are the trade policies and jobs that are presently affecting our country. More attention needs to be paid to human rights, labor and environmental laws, and with emphasis to stop the loss of high paying...