Understanding parties, platforms and party politics is important.Do you really know the planks of the Republican and Democratic parties? Do you know anything about any of the other parties? Even if the other parties can’t have a controlling impact, understanding their views can enrich your understanding of useful political ideas. You can learn about these parties at:
Constitution Party
http://www.constitutionparty.com/party_platform.php/documents/2008CPPlatform.pdf
Democrat http://www.democrats.org/about/party_platform
Green Party http://www.gp.org/committees/platform/2010/index.php
Libertarian http://www.lp.org/platform
Republican http://gop.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2008platform.pdf
Other, smaller parties can be found listed in this article: (Wikipedia: List of Political Parties in the United States)
Or here: