“Third-party” in the context of US politics (I think that’s where it comes from and is most widely used, owing to its major structural problems that almost inherently create only two major parties federally) is an abstract term referring to any minor political party, not specifically the third-most-popular. There’s no such thing as “voting fourth-party”, so an nth level of abstraction beyond that becomes absurdist.
*nervously looks around for people who would shoot me for having magnificent horns or voting ninth party*
America is fucked and voting for anything other than the big two is throwing away your vote.
“Voting ninth-party” sounds like a level of abstraction that describes writing in a termite mound in the Gondswana Rainforests.
Why so abstract? We have 5 parties that have seats in parliament and 9 other registered parties that don’t.
“Third-party” in the context of US politics (I think that’s where it comes from and is most widely used, owing to its major structural problems that almost inherently create only two major parties federally) is an abstract term referring to any minor political party, not specifically the third-most-popular. There’s no such thing as “voting fourth-party”, so an nth level of abstraction beyond that becomes absurdist.