Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Left-Right politics is the traditional terminology used to describe the two ideological poles of a political spectrum in a society, especially in a democracy. In modern Western countries, the political spectrum usually is described along left-right lines. This traditional political spectrum is defined along an axis with Conservatism ("the right") on one end, and Socialism ("the left") on the other. (In the United States, the term Liberalism refers to a wide range of left-of-center politics; in Europe, this same term refers to a wide range of center-right politics.) The term left and right was also used to describe politics in China starting in the 1920's until the 1980's, although the issues often were very different from the one's in Western nations. Table of contents 1 Meaning of the terms 1.1 Historical Origin of the Terms 2 Evolution of the terms 3 Modern use of the terms 4 Doubt about the contemporary relevance of the terms Meaning of the terms Despite the prevalence and durability of these terms, there is no clear consensus on what it actually means to be Left or Right. There are various different opinions about what is actually being measured along this axis: Whether the state should prioritize equality (left) or liberty (right). Whether the government's involvement with the economy should be interventionist (left) or laissez-faire (right). Whether the government should be secular and separate itself from religious beliefs (left) or should take a stance of religious morality (right). Fair outcomes (left) versus fair processes (right) Whether one embraces change (left) or prefers rigorous justification for change (right). This was proposed by Eric Hoffer. Whether human nature and society is malleable (left) or fixed (right). This was proposed by Thomas Sowell. Support for the economic interests of the poor (left) or the rich (right). Historical Origin of the Terms The terms Left and Right to refer to political affiliation originated early in the French Revolutionary era, and referred originally to the seating arrangements in the various legislative bodies of France. The aristocracy sat on the right of the Speaker (traditionally the seat of honor) and the commoners sat on the Left, hence the terms Right-wing politics and Left-wing politics. The terms date at least from the French National Assembly in 1789, where the (ostensibly voluntary) seating pattern continued to reflect the (mandatory) seating pattern of the pre-Revolutionary Estates-General. The Second Estate, or nobility, sat to the right of the chamber, and the Third Estate, or common people (at the time the radicals) to the left. Thus, "right" generally meant conservative, upholding the existing social or political order, and "left" meant radical, attempting to change or overthrow the existing order. Originally, the defining point on the ideological spectrum was the ancien régime ("old order"). "The Right" thus implied support for aristocratic or royal interests, while "The Left" implied opposition to the same. Because the political franchise at the start of the revolution was relatively narrow, the original "Left" represented mainly the interests of the bourgeoisie, the rising capitalist class. At that time, support for laissez-faire capitalism and Free markets were counted as being on the left; today in most Western countries these views would be characterized as being on the Right. In Great Britain at that time, Edmund Burke (now generally described as a conservative) held similar economic views to this first French "Left", although he strongly criticized their anti-clericalism and their willingness to overturn institutions of long standing. As the franchise expanded over the next several years, it became clear that there was something to the left of that original "Left": the precursors of socialism and communism, advocating the interests of wage-earners and peasants. Evolution of the terms During the 19th and 20th centuries, the Left was often characterized by not just a commitment to equality, but also by a belief in the ability and responsibility of the state to ensure that equality. This reflected the belief that laissez-faire capitalism -- initially embraced by the Left -- often, perhaps inevitably, led to greater inequity. This resulted in the Left being closely identified with socialism, and by implication Marxism (at least in its economic assumptions). The Bolsheviks were certainly "of the left," and the advocates of Stalinist, Soviet-style communism considered themselves to be "leftist". Most Western leftists would dispute at least the Stalinist claim to Leftism, due to the gross inequities communism created in practice, though many Leftist parties in Europe allied with Communist parties in order to oppose the Right. In practice, much Cold War era Leftism in the west seems to have been defined as much by its opposition to State Communism as their shared assumptions; since the collapse of the Soviet Union, this has led some on the Left to suggest the need for a new, third way approach, perhaps focused on institutionalism or systems such as parecon rather than state socialism. Modern use of the terms Today, these terms are widely used, but without any firm consensus about their meaning. They are probably more often embraced by those who would characterize themselves as being "of the left" than "of the right", although there are exceptions, such as the Romanian neo-fascist group Noua Dreapta ("New Right"). Today, the term "left" would be happily embraced by nearly all communists and socialists and by most (but not all) anarchists. In the United States, few others would happily accept the characterization (except in a relative sense), with the moderate left preferring terms like "progressive" and even shying away from being characterized as "liberal". In general, left implies a commitment to social equality, support for the class interests of the less privileged, and support for a liberal social policy of individual cultural freedom, though not necessarily equally concerned with individual economic freedom. In contrast to the original meaning of "left", the contemporary Left is usually characterized as having a willingness to engage in government regulation of business, commerce, and industry, and in government intervention on behalf of the less privileged (the poor; racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities; etc.) In recent years, even some representatives of the anarchist tradition have argued that government regulation may be a lesser evil than what anarchist intellectual Noam Chomsky characterizes as the "private tyranny" of the corporations. The contemporary right is usually defined by its opposition to such economic equality, social liberalism, and cultural diversity, usually either in the name of tradition (conservatism or nationalism), of personal freedom and the rights of private property, or of pessimism about the possibility of governments successfully achieving positive effects by legislation. Doubt about the contemporary relevance of the terms See main article political spectrum Some contemporary political positions, such as the position known in the US as "libertarianism", are very hard to characterize in left-right terms. The libertarians tend to be socially liberal, but reject the leftist advocacy of government regulation of business. Arguably, their politics are the most similar to those of the bourgeois French left of 1789. Many modern writers question whether the left-right distinction is even relevant in the 21st century. After all, in most countries left-right appears more a matter of historical contingency and local politics than any coherent statement of principle. After World War II, in order to remain politically relevant, the Western European right embraced some traditionally "leftist" aspects of government intervention in society. Similarly, many on the left went along with privatization during the Reagan-Thatcher era; more recently, in post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe, even the parties of the left all seem to advocate a relatively limited state role in the economy. We also see the emergence of movements such as the Green party and feminism which certainly have more in common with the traditional left than the traditional right, but are defined largely by their rejection of the leftist tendency toward reductionist economism. However, the nature of democratic politics implies that there will always be polarizing issues, and at least on a regional basis the historical Left and Right parties will likely find it expedient to adopt opposing sides. Also, there will always be the temptation to tag your opponents as Right-wing or Left-wing extremists in order to position yourself as moderate. Thus, even if the terms aren't as globally meaningful as they used to be, they are likely to remain part of our political vocabulary for the forseeable future. It remains to be seen whether groups advocating consensus-oriented approaches, such as Radical centrist politics, will be able transcend that historic polarization. This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.