The difference between minor and major parties can be so great that the membership total, donations, and the candidates that they are able to produce or attract are very distinct.
Some of the minor parties play almost no role in a country's politics because of their low recognition, vote and donations.
Minor parties often receive very small numbers of votes at an election (to the point of losing any candidate nomination deposit).
Minor parties in Australia owe much of their success to the proportional representation method of voting for the Australian Senate and one chamber of the legislatures of most states.
This allows minor parties to achieve at least one quota in the electorate or state and thus gain representation in a parliamentary chamber.
Often minor parties have been so successful in gaining such representation that they are able to hold the balance of power in the particular house of the parliament.
[citation needed] Germany uses a form of proportional representation for its federal elections, with a threshold of 5% to qualify for seats, or alternatively 3 direct mandates.
Since 1860, six presidential candidates other than Republicans and Democrats have received over 10% of the popular vote, although one of them was a former president, Theodore Roosevelt.
In the Westminster system there is also the possibility of minority governments, which can give smaller parties strength disproportional to their support.
Examples include the Irish Parliamentary Party which pushed for Home Rule in Ireland in the late 19th century.
[citation needed] In some countries like the United States, parties with low win probability face frequent exclusion from major debates and media coverage and denial of ballot access as well as hamstrung campaign budgets.
[citation needed] Reform UK was the largest Third party by popular vote in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.
In the 2015 United Kingdom general election UKIP was the largest Third party by popular vote.
Some parties operate only at the provincial level, for example BC United in British Columbia.