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	\| colors = {{color box\|{{party color\|Citizens Party (United States)}}\|border=darkgray}} Green		\| colors = {{color box\|{{party color\|Citizens Party (United States)}}\|border=darkgray}} Green
	\| predecessor = [[People's Party (United States, 1971)\|People's Party]]		\| predecessor = [[People's Party (United States, 1971)\|People's Party]]
	\| successor = Progressive State Parties ([[Washington Progressive Party\|WA]], [[Oregon Progressive Party\|OR]], [[Minnesota Progressive Party\|MN]], [[Vermont Progressive Party\|VT]])		\| successor = [[New Party (United States)]]<br>[[Progressive Dane]]<br>Progressive State Parties ([[Washington Progressive Party\|WA]], [[Oregon Progressive Party\|OR]], [[Minnesota Progressive Party\|MN]], [[Vermont Progressive Party\|VT]])
	\| logo = ~~CitizensParty1980.png~~		\| logo =
	\| logo_size = 150px		\| logo_size = 150px
	\| colorcode = {{party color\|Citizens Party (United States)}}		\| colorcode = {{party color\|Citizens Party (United States)}}
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	The '''Citizens Party''' was a [[political party]] in the [[United States]]. It was founded in [[Washington, D.C.]], by [[Barry Commoner]], who aimed to gather under one banner a nationwide political organization of [[Progressivism\|progressive]], [[Environmentalism\|environmentalist]] and [[American liberalism\|liberal]] groups, many of which were unsatisfied with [[President of the United States\|President]] [[Jimmy Carter]]'s [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter\|administration]], for the first time since the dissolution of the national [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)\|Progressive Party]] in the 1960s. The Citizens Party registered with the [[Federal Election Commission]] at the end of 1979. Commoner, a [[professor]] of [[environmental science]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]], was the head of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] and editor of ''[[Science Illustrated]]'' magazine.		The '''Citizens Party''' was a [[political party]] in the [[United States]]. It was founded in [[Washington, D.C.]], by [[Barry Commoner]], who aimed to gather under one banner a nationwide political organization of [[Progressivism\|progressive]], [[Environmentalism\|environmentalist]] and [[American liberalism\|liberal]] groups, many of which were unsatisfied with [[President of the United States\|President]] [[Jimmy Carter]]'s [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter\|administration]], for the first time since the dissolution of the national [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)\|Progressive Party]] in the 1960s. The Citizens Party registered with the [[Federal Election Commission]] at the end of 1979. Commoner, a [[professor]] of [[environmental science]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]], was the head of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] and editor of ''[[Science Illustrated]]'' magazine.

	The Citizens Party platform was very progressive, pro-science, and environmentalist. Some{{who~~?\|date=January 2025}}~~ have claimed that it was possibly [[socialism\|socialist]] as well, but this claim arose from a misunderstanding of the [[economic democracy]] platform of the party, which appears to be a form of [[corporatism]].{{Citation needed\|date=January 2025}} Commoner repeatedly espoused opposition to socialism for parts of the economy other than essential infrastructure. His economic democracy idea stated that the business of business is to do business, but that the business of government is to regulate business to prevent abuses.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2025}}		The Citizens Party platform was very progressive, pro-science, and environmentalist. Some who have claimed that it was possibly [[socialism\|socialist]] as well, but this claim arose from a misunderstanding of the [[economic democracy]] platform of the party, which appears to be a form of [[corporatism]].{{Citation needed\|date=January 2025}} Commoner repeatedly espoused opposition to socialism for parts of the economy other than essential infrastructure. His economic democracy idea stated that the business of business is to do business, but that the business of government is to regulate business to prevent abuses.{{Citation needed\|date=January 2025}}

	In all, the party was founded around four essential platforms, including economic democracy.		In all, the party was founded around four essential platforms, including economic democracy.

imported>ErickTheMerrick: Added source and social justice with a source

2025-05-09T05:55:35Z

Added source and social justice with a source

New page

{{Short description|1980s U.S. political party}}
{{Distinguish|Citizens Party of the United States}}
{{more footnotes|date=April 2010}}
{{Infobox political party
| name = Citizens Party
| foundation = {{Start date|1979|11|02}}
| ideology = [[Environmentalism]]<ref name=espac /> [[Progressivism]] [[Green politics]]<ref>{{cite book | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=BXzsAgAAQBAJ&dq=%22citizens+party%22+carter+green&pg=PA88 | title = International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics | editor = John Barry & E. Gene Frankland | publisher = Routledge | year = 2014 | page = 88 | isbn = 9781135553968 | quote = However, the party remained alive (16,000 members in 1982), scoring some local electoral victories. New members moved it leftward and began to identify themselves as the US version of ''Die Grünen'' (German Greens). Feminists prevailed in the intra-party struggle with other factions.}}</ref> [[Social justice]]<ref name=espac /> [[Left-libertarianism]]<ref>[https://olemiss.edu/courses/pol628/kitschelt88.pdf Left-Libertarian Parties: Explaining Innovation in Competitive Party Systems], Herbert P. Kitschelt, ''World Politics'', Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jan., 1988), pp. 194-234.</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEPf1NgCds4C&dq=%22citizens+party%22+progressive+environmentalist+groups&pg=PA104 | isbn=9780521016926 | title=Sustaining Abundance: Environmental Performance in Industrial Democracies | date=17 March 2003 | publisher=Cambridge University Press }}</ref>
| international =
| country = the United States
| dissolution = ~1990
| position = [[Left-wing politics|Left-wing]]<ref name= espac>{{cite web |date=2008 |title= Citizens' Party 1980 |url= http://www.espac.org/spla_pages/spla_fit_to_govern.asp |access-date=2025-01-16 |publisher= Busy Beaver Button Museum |quote= Their platform covered a diverse group of left-wing issues including environmentalism and social justice}}</ref>
| colors = {{color box|{{party color|Citizens Party (United States)}}|border=darkgray}} Green
| predecessor = [[People's Party (United States, 1971)|People's Party]]
| successor = Progressive State Parties ([[Washington Progressive Party|WA]], [[Oregon Progressive Party|OR]], [[Minnesota Progressive Party|MN]], [[Vermont Progressive Party|VT]])
| logo = CitizensParty1980.png
| logo_size = 150px
| colorcode = {{party color|Citizens Party (United States)}}
}}

The '''Citizens Party''' was a [[political party]] in the [[United States]]. It was founded in [[Washington, D.C.]], by [[Barry Commoner]], who aimed to gather under one banner a nationwide political organization of [[Progressivism|progressive]], [[Environmentalism|environmentalist]] and [[American liberalism|liberal]] groups, many of which were unsatisfied with [[President of the United States|President]] [[Jimmy Carter]]'s [[Presidency of Jimmy Carter|administration]], for the first time since the dissolution of the national [[Progressive Party (United States, 1948)|Progressive Party]] in the 1960s. The Citizens Party registered with the [[Federal Election Commission]] at the end of 1979. Commoner, a [[professor]] of [[environmental science]] at [[Washington University in St. Louis]], was the head of the Center for the Biology of Natural Systems in [[St. Louis]], [[Missouri]] and editor of ''[[Science Illustrated]]'' magazine.

The Citizens Party platform was very progressive, pro-science, and environmentalist. Some{{who?|date=January 2025}} have claimed that it was possibly [[socialism|socialist]] as well, but this claim arose from a misunderstanding of the [[economic democracy]] platform of the party, which appears to be a form of [[corporatism]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}} Commoner repeatedly espoused opposition to socialism for parts of the economy other than essential infrastructure. His economic democracy idea stated that the business of business is to do business, but that the business of government is to regulate business to prevent abuses.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

In all, the party was founded around four essential platforms, including economic democracy.


==History==

===1980 election cycle===
The first Citizens Party National Convention met in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], in the Cleveland Plaza Hotel from April 10 to 13, 1980. There were 260 delegates from 30 states present. The "proposals presented at the convention reportedly numbered some 300 items, a list largely irreducible to a manageable platform ... Units of the party organization on the state level thus became more or less responsible for delineating their own briefer versions of the list of goals" (Kruschke, p. 46). The party nominated Barry Commoner and [[LaDonna Harris]] (then, at that time, the wife of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] [[United States Senate|senator]] [[Fred R. Harris|Fred Harris]] of [[Oklahoma]]) for president and [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] respectively. La Donna Harris was "a leading [[Feminism|feminist]] and a [[Comanche]] Indian [who] labeled herself as 'a woman of color.'"

In order to increase public awareness of its existence, the Citizens Party ran a commercial on 600 radio stations which used profanity (the advertisement began with an actor exclaiming: "[[Bullshit]]! ... Carter, [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] and [[John B. Anderson|Anderson]], it's all bullshit!"). Several of the radio stations tried to remove the profanity, but the [[Federal Communications Commission]] forbade them to do so.<ref>{{cite news |title=Commoner vows to sue any station that refuses to run profane radio ad |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pO9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=8eEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5069%2C4351875 |access-date=2014-07-21 |work=[[Eugene Register-Guard]] |agency=[[Associated Press|AP]] |date=1980-10-15 |page=5A}}</ref>

As the party's presidential candidate in 1980, Commoner achieved ballot status in 29 states (22 and DC under the Citizens Party label, six as an Independent, and in [[Pennsylvania]] with the [[Consumer Party]]), although his major activity was centered in the large states of [[California]], [[Illinois]], [[Michigan]], [[New York (state)|New York]], and Pennsylvania.

In addition to the national ticket in the [[1980 United States presidential election|presidential election]], twenty-two other Citizens candidates appeared on the ballot in various states, including three for the U.S. Senate and eleven for the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House]]. Commoner received 221,083 votes. Although Commoner did not garner more than one percent in any state, the party received enough support to be the first [[minor party]] to qualify for federal matching funds (about $157,000) for the [[1984 United States elections|1984 elections]].

===1982 election cycle===
In 1981, the Citizens Party won an election for the first time when [[Terry Bouricius]] was elected to the board of Aldermen in [[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]], [[Vermont]]. In 1982, the Citizens Party fielded two candidates for governorships (Pennsylvania and [[Texas]]), three candidates for the Senate (Pennsylvania, Texas, and Vermont), and 15 candidates for the U.S. House.

===1984 election cycle===
In 1984, the Citizens Party held its second national convention at [[Hamline University]] in [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]], [[Minnesota]], from August 10 to 12, 1984. There were 125 delegates from 30 states present. The convention nominated [[Sonia Johnson]] of [[Virginia]], “a radical feminist,” for president and [[Richard J. Walton|Richard Walton]] of [[Rhode Island]] for vice president. Johnson had been excommunicated from the [[LDS Church]] in 1979 as a result of her outspoken support of the [[Equal Rights Amendment]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Excommunication · From Housewives to Protesters: Mormons for the ERA · USU Digital Exhibits |url=http://exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show/mormons-for-era/consequences-of-protest/excommunication |access-date=2022-10-30 |website=exhibits.usu.edu}}</ref> In 1982 Johnson undertook a publicized 37-day fast which was meant to encourage the Illinois legislature to ratify the ERA.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mansfield |first=Stephanie |date=1982-06-11 |title=The Hunger for Equality |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1982/06/11/the-hunger-for-equality/3ed1af1e-07ab-44c7-8bad-a3c60a3492cc/ |access-date=2022-10-30 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Two other minor parties endorsed the Citizens ticket in 1984. The [[Socialist Party USA]] National Convention in [[New York City]] from September 3 to 5, 1983 voted to try to run a joint ticket with the Citizens Party, and the [[Peace and Freedom Party]] in California endorsed Johnson for president (although it ran Emma Wong Mar for vice president).

Despite the two additional endorsements, the Citizens Party suffered serious setbacks during 1984. It ran fewer candidates for office: one for the Senate (Illinois), one for Governor (Vermont), and two for the U.S. House. Johnson appeared on the ballot in thirteen states as the Citizens candidate, two as an Independent, one ([[Arkansas]]) as the Citizens Group nominee, and one (Pennsylvania) as the Consumer nominee. The Citizens Party vote fell by two thirds, to 72,153, although Johnson significantly improved upon Commoner's totals in Pennsylvania and [[Louisiana]].

===1986 election cycle and party dissolution===
In the [[1986 United States elections|1986 election]], the Citizens Party once again offered four candidates: two for governor (Pennsylvania and Rhode Island), one for the Senate (Pennsylvania), and one for the U.S. House (Minnesota). The Pennsylvania candidates used the Consumer Party label.

After the disappointing number of votes cast in favor of the Citizens Party nominees, it dissolved. The 1987 Socialist Party National Convention nominated its own ticket of [[Willa Kenoyer]] (a former co-chair of the Citizens Party) and [[Ron Ehrenreich]] for [[1988 United States presidential election|the 1988 presidential election]], while the [[Consumer Party]] in Pennsylvania resumed its separate existence, picking up the remaining pieces of the Citizens Party.

=== Presidential election summary ===
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:100%"
! Year
! Presidential candidate
! Vice presidential candidate
! Popular votes
! %
! Electoral votes
! Result
! Ballot access
! Notes
! Ref
|-
| [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]]
| [[Barry Commoner]]
| [[LaDonna Harris]]
| 234,294
| {{Percentage bar|0.27|hex=FF0000}}
| 0
| {{no2}} Lost
| {{Composition bar|26|51|red}}
| Wretha Hanson was the candidate for vice-president in [[Ohio]]
| <ref name=HC1980>{{Cite web |title=Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of 1980 |publisher=[[Clerk of the United States House of Representatives]] |date=April 1981 |url=http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=January 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070101000000/http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/1980election.pdf}}</ref>
|-
| [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]]
| [[Sonia Johnson]]
| [[Richard J. Walton|Richard Walton]]
| 72,161
| {{Percentage bar|0.08|hex=FF0000}}
| 0
| {{no2}} Lost
| {{Composition bar|19|51|red}}
| also endorsed by the [[Socialist Party USA]] (SPUSA)
| <ref name="endorsed">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1984&minper=0&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=1984 Presidential General Election Results|access-date=February 7, 2010|publisher=U.S. Election Atlas}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://cases.justia.com/us-court-of-appeals/F2/829/157/226559/|title=United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. - 829 F.2d 157|access-date=February 13, 2010|publisher=Justia}}</ref><ref name=FEC1984>{{Cite web |title=Federal Elections 84 |publisher=[[Federal Election Commission]] |date=May 1985 |url=https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections84.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=December 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202162947/https://www.fec.gov/resources/cms-content/documents/federalelections84.pdf}}</ref>

|}

==See also==
* [[1980 United States presidential election]]
* [[1984 United States presidential election]]
* [[Citizens Party of the United States]] (2011–present)

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}

==Further reading==

* Citizens Party, [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/u/ulsmanuscripts/pdf/31735061540682.pdf "News from National: Campaign Summaries,"] ''Citizens Party News Bulletin,'' June 17, 1981. —1980 vote totals.
* Citizens Party, [http://digital.library.pitt.edu/u/ulsmanuscripts/pdf/31735058194212.pdf ''Platform of the Citizens/Consumer Party" As Adopted at Party Convention, April 1980.''] n.c.: Citizens Party, 1980.
* Jeffrey Gale, ''Bullshit: The Media As Power Brokers in Presidential Elections.'' Bold Hawk Press, 1988.
* Charles S. Hauss, "Citizens Party," in [[L. Sandy Maisel]] (ed.) ''Political Parties and Elections in the United States.'' New York: Garland Publishing, 1991; pg. 147.
* James T. Havel, ''U.S. Presidential Candidates and the Elections.'' New York: Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1996.
* Earl R. Kruschke (ed.) "Citizens’ Party" in ''Encyclopedia of Third Parties in the United States.'' Santa Barbara CA: ABC-CLIO, 1991; pg. 45.
* New York Citizens Party, ''The Citizens Party Salutes Gay Pride Week; Vote for Barry Commoner for President and LaDonna Harris for Vice-President in 1980.'' New York: Citizens Party, 1980.
* Edward L. Schapsmeier and Frederick H. Schapsmeier (eds.), "Citizen’s Party (CP)," in ''Political Parties and Civic Action Groups.'' Westport CT: Greenwood Press, 1981; pg. 96.

{{Historical left-wing third party presidential tickets (U.S.)}}
{{United States political parties}}

[[Category:Defunct political parties in the United States|Citizens Party]]
[[Category:Political parties established in 1979]]
[[Category:1979 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Political parties disestablished in 1987]]
[[Category:1987 disestablishments in the United States]]

Citizens Party (United States) - Revision history

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