The Left v/s Right wing— Understanding Political Spectrum

In election years, the words left and right more often bring to mind the political spectrum than they do directions in space.

But, how did liberal politics become associated with the word left, anyways? And why are conservatives labelled as right?

Framing politics in terms of left-wing and right-wing might be simple for politicians, and comforting to activists, but it seems that these terms just aren’t that useful for talking about — or indeed to — the general public.

A London based survey by YouGov revealed that a large number of people often do not understand the political view spectrum with much clarity and many people don’t even hold consistent left- and right-wing outlooks. Thus to understand the dynamics of left v/s right debate I am making an attempt to describe both the camps in as simplistic manner as possible.

Historical Context

The terms, used as metaphors today, began as “literal descriptions,” says Sophia Rosenfeld, a professor of European and American intellectual and cultural history at the University of Pennsylvania. Here’s how historians explain the terms’ surprising evolutions.

The story begins in France, in the summer of 1789, explains Patrice Higonnet, a professor emeritus of French history at Harvard University. As the French Revolution gained steam, an angry mob had just stormed the Bastille. The National Assembly assembled to act as the revolution’s government with the principal goal of writing a new constitution.

One of the main issues the assembly debated was how much power the king should have, says David A. Bell, a professor of early modern France at Princeton University. Would he have the right to an absolute veto? As the debate continued, those who thought the king should have an absolute veto sat on the right of the president of the assembly, and those who thought he should not — the more radical view — sat on the left of the president of the assembly. In other words, those who wanted to hew closer to tradition were on the right, and those who wanted more change were on the left.

The whole world was watching the French Revolution, and its jargon eventually began to make its way around the world — but not overnight. According to French historian Marcel Gauchet’s essay “Right and Left,” the process of right and left becoming the primary categories of political identity was “a long drawn-out process that lasted more than three quarters of a century, until the first decade of the 20th century.”

Similarly “The Bolsheviks were fascinated by the French Revolution. They were intensely conscious about carrying out its legacy — and raising it to a higher level,” Marci Shore, a professor of European cultural and intellectual history at Yale University. They viewed it as a necessary step in the historical process that would eventually lead to communism.

For them, left and right took on newly specific meanings. People who broke from the Communist party line were described by opponents as left-wing or right-wing deviationists, especially during the Stalinist era. Leaning towards the left generally meant embracing a radical international workers revolution, and leaning to the right generally meant adopting some sort of national sentiment. But the definitions were fluid, always shifting in relation to the ever-changing party line.

In the interwar years, the terms left and right were used all over Europe as people wrestled with the politics of nation and class. “It’s very difficult to talk about the 1920s and 1930s in Europe without continually invoking ‘Right’ and ‘Left,” writes Shore. “This is especially true because the interwar years were a time of a polarized political spectrum: the Right became more radical, the Left became more radical; the liberal center ‘melted into air’ (to use Marx’s phrase).

‘Left’ and ‘Right’ in American politics

According to Michael Kazin, a professor of U.S. politics and social movements at Georgetown University, the terms only took hold in American vernacular in the 20th century. But, just as the terms were becoming more common, those who might have used them most started to shy away from them. There were “bona fide” communists and socialists active in the U.S. in the 1920s and ’30s, says Brent Cebul, a professor of 20th century U.S. history at the University of Pennsylvania, but they became less likely to call themselves “leftists” for multiple reasons.

First, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the New Deal in the 1930s, he ushered in an era of liberalism that made peace with private enterprise. Many people who had been active socialists chose to support the New Deal, sacrificing their more radical ideologies in the name of making progress in mainstream parties and politics.

Then, in the 1940s and ’50s, the Cold War and the Red scare raised the stakes for those on the left. “You would lose your job in government if you actively spoke of socialist or communist leanings,” Cebul says. “So that has a major implication in terms of who actually self-identifies as leftist.” Meanwhile, conservatives thinkers began linking the growth of the liberal state to what they called leftism, with its communist associations. “So really, it’s the right that keeps this idea of the left alive [in mainstream politics],” he argues.

However, people began reclaiming the term around the 1960s, says Jennifer Burns, a professor of 20th century U.S. history at Stanford University and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

What caused the shift? First, political parties — in the past often been driven by region and economic interests — began to solidify around central ideological beliefs. Secondly, people on both the right and the left began to reject the old political consensus. Conservatives worked to advocate a new set of ideas, disagreeing with the philosophical underpinnings of expanded government. And on the other side, student activists protested against what they viewed as “hegemonic liberalism,” as Burns puts it, and the Vietnam War.

This moment was a milestone when left and right became newly useful in American politics when people needed a way to express their disagreement with others on what might have seemed to be their own side of things.

“Suddenly, left and rightbecame more defined, because both sides thought the middle — the establishment, the powers that be — were messing things up and not doing a good job,” Burns says. “That may be a reason that left became more defined as a spot on the political spectrum, because people who disagreed with liberalism that aren’t conservatives need a word, so they can called themselves leftist… [And] when people were scrambling to differentiate themselves from the conservative movement of their day, they felt the clarity that they were’nt calling for an expanded government or expanded intervention in economic or social and political life, they fell back on this term of the right.”

Modern understanding of the terms

As Penn’s Sophia Rosenfeld explains, the terms are situational, and have become tools that change based on their context. They have meant something specific in the French Revolution, something specific in the rise of socialism and nationalism in Europe, and something specific in the birth of student movements in the United States.

In the U.S. today, left and right suggest progressivism and conservatism. But the definition of the center is still ever-changing. As McClatchy reported during the recently concluded US elections that “while Biden has been labeled a moderate candidate, his agenda is far more progressive than Sec. Hillary Clinton’s was just four years earlier.”

However there is one trend does tend to hold true: left and right become stronger political alignments when the center falls away. Some argue that’s exactly what’s happened in 2019.

Key differences between left and right with examples.

1. Government power vs individual liberty

The left

• Those on the left strive for an equal society and believe that the government should play a large part in people’s lives in order to achieve this. This is sometimes referred to as big government.
• Those on the left tend to support higher taxes on the rich, welfare for the poor and government regulation of business. This can also mean taking an interventionist approach towards economics, where the government will step in to prevent a recession (a period of economic decline). They can do this by taxing people highly during ‘boom’ times (when the economy is doing well) and then spending this money when the economy needs it.

The right

• Those on the right believe that a certain level of social inequality is unavoidable, and that the government should play a limited role in people’s lives.
• They tend to support a laissez-faire approach to the economy. ‘Laissez-faire’ is a French term which roughly translates as ‘leave things alone’. Those on the right believe that less business regulation will help innovation, and lower taxes on businesses will help them to grow. In other words, if we don’t interfere with business and we leave the market to its own devices, it’s better for the economy.

2. Progressive vs conservative

The left

• Those on the left tend to adopt a progressive view, meaning they often favour social change or reform. A typical example is supporting same-sex marriage.

The right

• Those on the right tend to uphold more traditional views. A typical example is being in favour of the monarchy.

Laws

The left

National Health Service Act, 1946, UK

• Made healthcare free on the basis of citizenship and need, rather than the payment of fees or insurance premiums.
• Implemented by: The Labour Party
• Principles: equal society, government intervention

Parental Leave Act, 1974, Sweden

• Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce parental leave that could be split between two parents of a child.
• Implemented by: The Social Democratic Party
• Principles: progressive politics, social change

The right

Tax allowance for married couples, 2014, UK

• Married couples get tax benefits such as reduced income tax and the ability to pass money on to a spouse without incurring inheritance tax.
• Implemented by: The Conservative party
• Principles: tradition

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, 2017, US

• Reduced tax rates for businesses from 35% to 21%
• Implemented by: The Republican party
• Principles: laissez-faire economics, individual liberty

Political parties

The left

The Labour party (UK), Green party (UK), Democratic party (US) and Socialist party (France) are often described as being left-wing.

The right

Right-wing parties include The Conservative party (UK), UKIP (UK), Republican party (US) and Law and Justice (Poland).

It’s worth keeping in mind that the terms ‘left’ and ‘right’ are often used loosely and aren’t always accurate. For example, many of the UK Labour party’s policies place it in the centre of the political spectrum, or even slightly right of centre. The same is true in the US, where both the Democratic party and Republican party could be considered right wing. Likewise, a political party might become more left or right wing depending on its leader at the time. It’s always worth checking out the party’s actual manifesto before making your mind up on who to vote for.

Media outlets

The left

The Guardian, The Huffington Post, The Daily Mirror, Mother Jones and The Washington Post are often described as being left-wing.

The right

Right-wing outlets include The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The New York Post and Fox News.

Some famous quotes

The left

“From each according to his abilities; to each according to his needs.” — Karl Marx

The right

“Man is not free unless government is limited.” — Ronald Regan

It’s not all black and white.

Not all principles, laws, political parties or media outlets can be neatly classified as left or right wing, as most will include elements of both. Likewise, individual people, even those who describe themselves as being left-wing or right-wing, will often support one or two principles from the other side of the spectrum. This is a good thing — by avoiding strict labels when it comes to our political identity and remaining open-minded, we can avoid having an over-simplified outlook and judge political parties and their policies on their own merit.

Understanding Left and Right in India

In India let us take the Ayappa issue or Same-sex marriage issue…
The people who support the ancient ideologies and don’t want them to be changed are called as RIGHT WING.and the people who want to allow women into the Ayappa Temple, Who support same-sex marriages or the people who want something to be changed irrespective of the usual going are called as LEFT WINGS.

How Left and Right plays its role in Party Politics
In the political scenario, the Left Wing & Right Wing are differentiated in two types

SOCIAL LEFTISTS V/S SOCIAL RIGHTISTS

ECONOMICAL LEFTISTS V/S ECONOMICAL RIGHTISTS.

Social Right is that which means they want all the religious traditions to be
left alone as they are designed by the ancient scriptures. Parties supporting Right-wing will support a specific religion but that does not mean that they should straight away oppose other religions.

SOCIAL RIGHT WING :

Parties that come under RIGHT-WING are:

• BJP
• SHIV SENA
• AIMIM

SOCIAL LEFT WING

Parties that come under LEFT WING in are:

• CONGRESS
• AAP
• JDU
• TMC
• CPI-CPM

All these are otherwise called as SECULAR parties.

ECONOMIC RIGHT & LEFT:

In India, there is only one ideology of Economic ideology that is every party in
India support LEFT WING.

So, this shows that in India, the only differentiation we can make in between LEFT & RIGHT wing is only regarded as a SOCIAL aspect.

Today the terms are being increasingly used as a political combat, says Kazin. Politicians often describe their opponents as being on the far left or the far right in an effort to de-legitimize their politics.

And there is no guarantee that the meanings of left and right cannot change once again. Thus it is important to rationally understand each debate before blindly following a particular opinion.