As long as you focus on competent administration, the three party system will stay strong. The third party is for bringing policies and ideas to the national stage. Because any time the two most powerful parties are ignoring popular policy, the second party will partner with the third to gang up on the party in power or the party in power will court the third to prevent it. Either way, the third party gets a national voice. And the third party has to focus on popular policy because they do not have enough power to do anything else.