Centrism

In politics, centrism or the centre is a political outlook or specific position that involves acceptance or support of a balance of a degree of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy; while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society either strongly to the left or the right.^[1] Centre left and centre right politics both involve a general association with centrism combined while leaning somewhat to their respective sides of the spectrum. The term is often used interchangeably with the Third Way, a political position popularized by Bill Clinton and Tony Blair in the 1990s, whereby policies favored a balanced approach and the removal of extreme ideologies.

Definitions

Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological or otherwise. It has even been suggested that individuals vote for 'centrist' parties for purely statistical reasons.^[2]

Centrist usually support to a degree of equal opportunity and economic freedom. They can generally lean conservative on economic issues and lean liberal on social issues and sometimes vice versa.

Usage by political parties by country

Australia

The Australian Democrats is a centrist party with a social liberal ideology. South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon had launched his own centrist political party called the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) in 2014.

Belgium

The utmost centrist party of Flanders has been the Volksunie, which not only embraced social liberalism but also displayed the national sentiment of the Dutch speaking Belgians who felt culturally suppressed by Francophones. The New Flemish Alliance is the largest, and since 2009, the only successor of that party.

Among French speaking Belgians the Humanist Democratic Centre is a centre-right or centre party as it is considerably less conservative than its Flemish counterpart, Christian Democratic & Flemish. Another party in the centre of the political spectrum is the liberal Reformist Movement.

Canada

Although the Liberal Party of Canada was the dominant centre party for most of the country's history, it lost that title in the 2011 federal elections to the Conservative Party of Canada. The Liberals have typically positioned themselves as being more moderate and centrist than the Conservatives, putting them somewhere between the centre and centre-left. The Liberals are currently the third-largest party in Canada's House of Commons; however, opinion polls for several years now have put them in first place leading up to the 2015 General Elections.

France

France has a tradition of parties that call themselves centriste. The most notable centrist party, often also called liberal, was the Union for French Democracy, created in 1978. Among its successors belongs the small Centrist Alliance, the most successful of them is the Democratic Movement of François Bayrou, founded in 2007.

Germany

Joachim Gauck, the current German president who is a centrist politician and activist without party affiliation. In 1990 he took part in the Alliance 90, having become an independent after its merger with The Greens.

Zentrismus is a term merely known to experts, as it is easily confused with Zentralismus ("centralism", the opposite to decentralisation/federalism); so the usual term in German for the political centre/centrism is politische Mitte (literally "political middle", or "political centre"). Historically, the German party with the most purely centrist nature among German parties to have had current or historical parliamentary representations was most likely the social-liberal German Democratic Party of the Weimar Republic (1918–1933).

There existed during the Weimar Republic (and again after the Nazi period) a Zentrum, a party of German Catholics founded in 1870. It was called Centre Party not for being a proper centrist party, but because it united left-wing and right-wing Catholics, because it was the first German party to be a Volkspartei (catch-all party), and because his elected representatives sat between the liberals (the left of the time) and the conservatives (the right of the time). It was, though, distinctly right-wing conservative in that it was not neutral on religious issues (such as on secular education), being markedly against more liberal and modernist positions. The main successor of Zentrum after the return of democracy to West Germany in 1945, the Christian Democratic Union, has throughout its history alternated between describing itself as right-wing or centrist, and sitting on the right-wing (with the Free Democratic Party in its social liberal moments sitting at its left, in the centre, and themselves sitting at the centre, with the FDP in its classical liberal moments sitting at its right, in the right-wing). The representatives of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, although they have, since the 1990s, many times referred to themselves as "the new middle" (under influence of the Third way of the time), feel less at ease in describing their party as centrist due to their history and socialist identity.

Alliance '90/The Greens was found in 1993 as a merger from the East German Alliance 90, a group of centrist/transversalist civil rights activists, and the (West) German Greens. The Latter was a coalition of various unorthodox-left politicians and more liberal "realists". This Bundestag party also hesitates in using the term centre, although it does distance itself as well from the tag of left (which identifies it, for the moment, as a transversalist party). The transversalist moderation of the party and its position in the Bundestag in the middle of the way, between the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats (while the FDP has its seats at the right of the Christian Democrats) also points somewhat to The Greens being a more or less centrist party.

In the state parliaments of specific German states there are other specifically regional parties which could be identified as centrist. The South Schleswig Voter Federation, of the Danish and Frisian minorities in the state of Schleswig-Holstein has currently a centrist political position, although in the past the party usually leaned to the left. In the German presidential elections of 2009, 2010 and 2012, it supported the candidates of the Social Democrats and the Greens. In Bavaria, the Free Voters party present at the state parliament may also be seen as a centrist party.

Greece

In Greece centrism has its roots to centrist politician and founder of Agricultural and Labour Party, Alexandros Papanastasiou. In 1961 Georgios Papandreou created along with other political leaders the coalition party of Centre Union. Five parties were merged: Liberal Party, Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union, National Progressive Center Union, Popular Social Party into one, with strong centrist agenda opposed equally to right wing party of National Radical Union and left wing party of United Democratic Left. The Centre Union Party was the last Venizelist party to hold power in Greece. The party nominally continued to exist until 1977 (after the Junta it was known as the Center Union - New Forces), when its successor Union of the Democratic Centre (EDIK) party was created.

Union of Centrists was created by Vassilis Leventis in 1992 under the title "Union of Centrists and Ecologists". The name was changed shortly after. The Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old party Center Union. The party strives to become "the political continuance of the centrist expression in Greece". Leventis aimed to become part of the Venizelist legacy of some great politicians of the past, such as Eleftherios Venizelos and George Papandreou Sr. However, the party's total influence has been marginal, with 1.79% of the total vote (in the Greek legislative election, 2015) being its highest achievement to date.

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, the two main political parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, both claim the political centre ground, but seem to mostly lean to the centre-right and be mostly made up of centre-right memberships.^[3][3][4] The two parties have shared broadly similar policies in the past, with their primary division being perceived as being steeped in Irish Civil War politics. Fine Gael is aligned to Christian democratic parties in Europe via its membership of the European People's Party, and is described internationally as centre-right by the likes of Reuters.^[5] The consensus in analysis seems to be that Fianna Fáil is mostly centrist, expanding to the centre-right space, and that Fine Gael is mostly centre-rightist, expanding also to the centre space.

Netherlands

In the Netherlands, four parties have, more than once, sent members into the cabinet. From them, the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) tends to be centre-right and the Democrats 66 (D66) centrist.^[6]

Livable Netherlands was originally a centrist political movement of local grass-root parties with an anti-establishment touch similar to early D66. However, the party entered in 2002 national parliament with a right-wing populist programme based on security and immigration as the major issues.

The fundamentalist Protestant ChristianUnion has a transversalist position that can be confused with a certain kind of centrist position, in so far it is left-leaning on social issues, immigration and environment, and right-leaning on drugs issues and euthanasia.

New Zealand

In New Zealand, the main current centrist party is the United Future party, founded by a fusion of a previous centrist social liberal party and a previous Christian conservative party. United Future currently has one seat in the New Zealand parliament, supporting the current Government led by the National Party alongside ACT and the Maori Party.

Nordic countries

Campaign for the Norwegian Centre Party at Nærbø. Like its Finnish and Swedish counterparts, the party has a strong focus on decentralisation, rural and agrarian issues.

In most of the Nordic countries, there are Nordic agrarian parties. These share in addition to the centrist position on the socio-economic left-right scale a clear, separate ideology. This position is centred on decentralisation, a commitment to small business and environmental protection. Centrists have aligned themselves with the Liberal International and European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Historically, all of these parties were farmers' parties committed to maintaining rural life. In the 1960s, these parties broadened their scope to include non-farmer related issues and renamed themselves Centre Party.

Neither the Centre Democrats (a now defunct centrist political party) nor the Liberal Alliance (a political party founded as a centrist social liberal party but that now is a classical liberal/Austroliberal party), both of Denmark, are rooted in centrist agrarianism.

Palestinian Authority

The Third Way is a small centrist Palestinian political party active in Palestinian politics. Founded on 16 December 2005, the party is led by Salam Fayyad and Hanan Ashrawi. In the January 2006 PLC elections it received 2.41% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats. The party presents itself as an alternative to the two-party system of Hamas and Fatah.

Spain

The national party which Spanish voters most traditionally consider to be the closest to the centre, according to several opinion polls, is the Union, Progress and Democracy (this popular perception is, though, rejected by the party itself, which classifies itself as transversalist and not centrist). Electors also consider as centrists the Convergence and Union coalition from Catalonia and the Basque Nationalist Party from the Spanish Basque Country.^[7]

United Kingdom

In the late 1990s, the traditionally social-democratic Labour Party, under the leadership of Tony Blair, began to move towards a centrist Third Way policy platform, creating the New Labour movement.

Traditionally, however, the party commonly seen as holding the centre ground is the Liberal Democrats, a social liberal party placed between the centre left and the radical centre (or on the radical centre itself). In March 2011, Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, stated that he believed that his party belonged to the radical centre, mentioning John Maynard Keynes, William Beveridge, Jo Grimond, David Lloyd George and John Stuart Mill as examples of the radical centre that preceded the Liberal Democrats' establishment in 1988. He pointed to liberalism as an ideology of people, and described the political spectrum and his party's position as follows: "For the left, an obsession with the state. For the right, a worship of the market. But as liberals, we place our faith in people. People with power and opportunity in their hands. Our opponents try to divide us with their outdated labels of left and right. But we are not on the left and we are not on the right. We have our own label: Liberal. We are liberals and we own the freehold to the centre ground of British politics. Our politics is the politics of the radical centre."

United States

Ross Perot, former United States Presidential candidate in the 1992 and 1996 elections.

Independent candidate H. Ross Perot garnered nearly 19% of the popular vote in the 1992 Presidential election. His "get under the hood" campaign focusing on balancing the budget has been one of the most successful centrist efforts in U.S. history,^[8] but he did not carry a single state in the Electoral College. He went on to form the Reform Party and run a second time in the 1996 Presidential election with less success.

A late 2011 Gallup poll of Americans' attitudes towards government reported that 17% expressed conservative views, 22% expressed libertarian views, 20% expressed communitarian views, 17% expressed centrist views, and 24% expressed liberal views.^[9]

Americans Elect, a coalition of American centrists funded by wealthy donors such as business magnate Michael Bloomberg, former junk-bond trader Peter Ackerman, and hedge fund manager John H. Burbank III, launched an effort in mid-2011 to create a national 'virtual primary' that would challenge the current two-party system. The group aims to nominate a presidential ticket of centrists with names that would be on ballots in all 50 states. The group banks on broad cultural dissatisfaction with the partisan gridlock in Washington, D.C. The Christian Science Monitor has stated that "the political climate couldn't be riper for a serious third-party alternative" such as their effort, but the "hurdles Americans Elect faces are daunting" to get on ballots.^[8]

Journalist and political commentator E.J. Dionne wrote in his book Why Americans Hate Politics, published on the eve of the 1992 Presidential election, that he believes American voters are looking for a "New Political Center" that intermix "liberal instincts" and "conservative values." He labelled people in this centre position as "tolerant traditionalists". He described them as believers in conventional social morality that ensure family stability, as tolerant within reason to those that challenge those morals, and as pragmatically supportive of government intervention in spheres such as education, child care, health care as long as budgets are balanced.^[10]

In addition, Washington political journalist Linda J Killian describes the current situation in her book The Swing Vote. She writes that Americans are frustrated with Congress and its dysfunction and inability to do its job. A growing number of Americans are not satisfied with the political process because a number of factors from influx of money into politics and the influence of special interests and lobbyists. The book classifies four types of independent voters including "NPR Republicans", "America First Democrats", "The Facebook Generation" and "Starbucks Moms and Dads" who will be big determinates of Swing votes in the 2012 Presidential election.^[11]

Currently, centrists in the two major US political parties are often found in the Blue Dog Coalition of the Democratic Party andRepublican Main Street Partnership of the Republican Party.

See also

• Golden mean
• Independent politician
• Independent voter
• Left-right politics
• Moderate
• Radical centrism
• Syncretic politics
• Third Way
• Triangulation (politics)

References

External links

• The US Centrist Party, an attempt for an American centrist party
• Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines