| Acknowledgements | 第4-5页 |
| 摘要 | 第5-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6页 |
| 1. Introduction | 第9-13页 |
| 2. Third Party in General | 第13-23页 |
| 2.1 The FPTP Voting System and Its Impact on the Third Party | 第13-17页 |
| 2.2 Function of the Third Party in a Two-party System | 第17-19页 |
| 2.3 Why the Liberal Democrats are the third party? | 第19-23页 |
| 3. Third Party in the UK History:Development of Liberalism and the Liberal Democrats | 第23-33页 |
| 3.1 The Formation of Classical Liberalism and the Dominance of the Liberal Party | 第23-26页 |
| 3.2 The Ascent of Social Liberalism Versus the Descent of the Liberal Party | 第26-29页 |
| 3.3 The Revival of Classical Liberalism and the Liberal Democrats' Shift from "Center-left" to "Center-right" | 第29-33页 |
| 4. "The Moment Has Come"-Rise of the Liberal Democrats(2001-2010) | 第33-46页 |
| 4.1 Popular Education Policies | 第35-38页 |
| 4.2 Strong Stance Against Joining the Iraq War | 第38-41页 |
| 4.3 The "Cleggmania" Effect | 第41-46页 |
| 5. "The Little Party Always Gets Smashed" - Fall of the Liberal Democrats(2010-2015) | 第46-61页 |
| 5.1 Intra-party Split on Several Key Policies | 第48-52页 |
| 5.2 Unfavorable Ministerial Arrangement in the Coalition | 第52-54页 |
| 5.3 External Threats Posed by the Rise of the SNP and UKIP | 第54-57页 |
| 5.4 Plethora of Tactical Voters and Paucity of Staunch Supporters | 第57-61页 |
| 6. Conclusion | 第61-64页 |
| Works Cited | 第64-70页 |
