What is one great obstacle preventing third parties from gaining equal footing with the democrats and the republicans?

Compared with the Democratic and Republican Parties, it's difficult for third parties to gain meaningful or significant media coverage.

Explanation:

The mainstream media doesn’t give enough coverage to third parties, preventing Americans from knowing more about their candidates.

There are various other parties that are not discussed in the media because they are not considered viable enough and because the election structure is dominated by the two-party system. Two other parties are the Libertarian Party and the Green Party.

`stare decisis is a legal doctrine that obligates courts to follow historical cases when making a ruling on a similar current or future case. stare decisis ensures that cases with identical facts be approached in the same way, unless overruled by the same court or a higher court such as the us supreme court. simply put, it binds courts to follow legal precedents set by previous decisions.

stare decisis is a latin term meaning "to stand by that which is decided".

a list of local governments in the us which go in order from the largest to the smallest division may be represented in the following way:

1. local government: it is placed below the level of state government as it refers to the jurisdiction government.

2. county government: states are organized into counties for administrative purposes.

3. township governments or municipalities: some counties are divided into towns or municipalities as population centers. cities, boroughs and villages are included at this level.

4. districts: special purpose districts encompass areas in municipalities.