Political Science

American Medical Association is an association of medical students and physicians, founded in 1847, and found in the United States of America. Its mission is the promotion of the art of science of medical practice to better public health. It also deals with the legislative practices that favor the medical practitioners. National Rifle Association is an organization that is non-profit with an aim of protection of the Second Amendment and the promotion of firearm safety, ownership, good marksmanship and self defense. It was established by George Wood Wingate and William Conant Church in New York in 1871.

The above named associations are similar to political parties in the sense that both have a large collection of a number of people. The AMA boasts of a membership of 245,000 members strong, while the NRA boasts of a membership of nearly 4 million. Also these organizations are similar to political parties in the sense that they make use of logos to identify themselves. Political parties equally use political symbols to identify themselves by. Another similarity between political parties and these two organizations is the manner in which they are durable and they endure a lot of issues. Political parties and these organizations also are committed to and electoral activity. This is usually in the case when there has to be some one elected to lead the organization or a political party. The difference between these organizations and political parties is that political parties have the option of fielding a candidate to run for office in government, while the organizations cannot do that. Also the activities that political parties engage in are totally different from those of such organizations. For instance, political parties educate the public on matters concerning the government and take part in political debates. Political parties also pursue public policies and can also govern after successful election into office (Joel L. Fleishman, 1982).

The road to initiation of an association into a political party can be a pretty rough one. As much as they are almost similar, a lot still needs to be done before and association can become the third political party in the United States of America. This is because the United States of America uses the two party system which has been in place since 1964 (Joel L. Fleishman, 1982). This means that apart from the small political parties that have been cropping up, there will always be two major political parties in the United States of America. For such organizations to initiate as third parties, they need to find a candidate and cast for him  her at the general election, and garner at least 2 of the total vote cast. The nomination of a candidate for office either in the presidents office or in the governors office is therefore the first step. Non-political organizations such as ASA and NRA will also have to apply for in advance for the nomination of such candidates. Finally, the candidate that the organization is planning on fielding must submit more than 1,500 signatures for those vying for president, governor or senator, and file an affidavit indicating residence, and admitting that the candidate understands the requirements of law (Joel L. Fleishman, 1982).