In
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...
and popular discourse,
the horseshoe theory asserts that the
extreme left and the
extreme right, rather than being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear
political continuum, closely resemble each other, analogous to the way that the opposite ends of a
horseshoe are close together.
The theory is attributed to the French philosopher and writer
Jean-Pierre Faye
Jean-Pierre Faye (born 19 July 1925) is a French philosopher and writer of fiction and prose poetry.
Life and career
Faye was born in Paris. He was member of the editing committee of the avant-garde literary review ''Tel Quel
''Tel Quel'' (t ...
. Proponents point to a number of perceived similarities between extremes and allege that both have a tendency to support
authoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in the rule of law, separation of powers, and democratic voti ...
or
totalitarianism. Several political scientists have criticized the theory.
Origin
The horseshoe metaphor was used as early as during the
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (german: link=no, Weimarer Republik ), officially named the German Reich, was the government of Germany from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional federal republic for the first time in history; hence it is ...
to describe the ideology of the
Black Front
The Combat League of Revolutionary National Socialists (German: ''Kampfgemeinschaft Revolutionärer Nationalsozialisten'', KGRNS), more commonly known as the Black Front (german: Schwarze Front), was a political group formed by Otto Strasser in ...
.
The later use of the term in
political theory was seen in
Jean-Pierre Faye
Jean-Pierre Faye (born 19 July 1925) is a French philosopher and writer of fiction and prose poetry.
Life and career
Faye was born in Paris. He was member of the editing committee of the avant-garde literary review ''Tel Quel
''Tel Quel'' (t ...
's 2002 book ''Le Siècle des idéologies'' (The Century of Ideology).
Faye's book discussed the use of ideologies (he points out that "
ideology" is a pair of Greek words that were joined in French) rooted in philosophy by totalitarian regimes with specific reference to
Hitler,
Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his car ...
,
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
, and
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...
.
Others have attributed the theory as having come from the American sociologists
Seymour Martin Lipset
Seymour Martin Lipset ( ; March 18, 1922 – December 31, 2006) was an American sociologist and political scientist (President of the American Political Science Association). His major work was in the fields of political sociology, trade union o ...
and
Daniel Bell
Daniel Bell (May 10, 1919 – January 25, 2011) was an American sociologist, writer, editor, and professor at Harvard University, best known for his contributions to the study of post-industrialism. He has been described as "one of the leading A ...
, as well as the
Pluralist school. Because the theory is also popular in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, a co-contributor to the theory is said to be the German political scientist
Eckhard Jesse
Eckhard Jesse (born 16 July 1948 in Wurzen, Saxony) is a German political scientist. He held the chair for "political systems and political institutions" at the Technical University of Chemnitz from 1993 to 2014. Jesse is one of the best known ...
.
Modern usage
In a 2006 book, the American political scientist
Jeff Taylor wrote: "It may be more useful to think of the Left and the Right as two components of
populism, with
elitism residing in the
Center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
. The
political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...
may be linear, but it is not a straight line. It is shaped like a horseshoe." In the same year, the term was used in discussing a resurgent hostility toward
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
and a
new anti-Semitism from both the
extreme left and the
extreme right.
In a 2008 essay,
Josef Joffe, a
visiting fellow
In academia, a visiting scholar, visiting researcher, visiting fellow, visiting lecturer, or visiting professor is a scholar from an institution who visits a host university to teach, lecture, or perform research on a topic for which the visitor ...
at the conservative
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
the
Hoover Institution, wrote:
Will globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...
survive the gloom? The creeping revolt against globalization actually preceded the Crash of '08. Everywhere in the West, populism began to show its angry face at mid-decade. The two most dramatic instances were Germany and Austria, where populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term develop ...
parties scored big with a message of isolationism, protectionism and redistribution. In Germany, it was left-wing populism
Left-wing populism, also called social populism, is a political ideology that combines left-wing politics with populist rhetoric and themes. Its rhetoric often consists of anti- elitism, opposition to the Establishment, and speaking for the "c ...
(" Die Linke"); in Austria it was a bunch of right-wing parties that garnered almost 30% in the 2008 election. Left and right together illustrated once more the "horseshoe" theory of modern politics: As the iron is bent backward, the two extremes almost touch.
In 2015, the
reformist
Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement.
Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can ...
Muslim Maajid Nawaz
Maajid Usman Nawaz (; born 2 November 1977) is a British activist and former radio presenter. He was the founding chairman of Quilliam. Until January 2022, he was the host of an LBC radio show on Saturdays and Sundays.
Born in Southend-on-Sea ...
invoked the horseshoe theory on lamenting a common tendency on both extremes toward the compiling and publishing of "
lists of political foes;" he added:
As the political horseshoe theory attributed to Jean-Pierre Faye
Jean-Pierre Faye (born 19 July 1925) is a French philosopher and writer of fiction and prose poetry.
Life and career
Faye was born in Paris. He was member of the editing committee of the avant-garde literary review ''Tel Quel
''Tel Quel'' (t ...
highlights, if we travel far-left enough, we find the very same sneering, nasty and reckless bully-boy tactics used by the far-right. The two extremes of the political spectrum end up meeting like a horseshoe, at the top, which to my mind symbolizes totalitarian control from above. In their quest for ideological
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...
purity, Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
and Hitler had more in common than modern neo-Nazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack ...
and far-left agitators would care to admit.
In a 2018 article for ''
Eurozine
''Eurozine '' is a network of European cultural magazines based in Vienna, linking up more than 90 partner journals and just as many associated magazines and institutions from nearly all European countries. ''Eurozine'' is also an online magazine ...
'', "How Right Is the Left?",
Kyrylo Tkachenko wrote about the common cause found recently between both extremes in
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
:
In a 2021 article for ''
Reason
Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'', Katherine Mangu-Ward wrote:
The theory has also been quoted when referring to American far-right and far-left organisations both supporting Putin in the
Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Criticism
Horseshoe theory does not enjoy support within academic circles; peer-reviewed research by political scientists on the subject is scarce and existing studies have generally contradicted its central premises.
Chip Berlet
John Foster "Chip" Berlet (; born November 22, 1949) is an American investigative journalist, research analyst, photojournalist, scholar, and activist specializing in the study of extreme right-wing movements in the United States. He also stu ...
has characterized the theory as an oversimplification of political ideologies, ignoring fundamental differences between them.
Paul H. P. Hanel, a research associate, wrote
Simon Choat, a
senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Switzerland, and Israel senior lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. The position is tenured (in systems with this conce ...
in
political theory at
Kingston University
, mottoeng = "Through Learning We Progress"
, established = – gained University Status – Kingston Technical Institute
, type = Public
, endowment = £2.3 m (2015)
, ...
, criticizes horseshoe theory from a
leftist perspective. He argues that
far-left and
far-right ideologies only share similarities in the vaguest sense in that they both oppose the
liberal democratic
Liberal democracy is the combination of a liberal political ideology that operates under an indirect democratic form of government. It is characterized by elections between multiple distinct political parties, a separation of powers into di ...
''
status quo''; however, the two sides both have very different reasons and very different aims for doing so. Choat uses the issue of
globalization
Globalization, or globalisation (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English; American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), see spelling differences), is the process of foreign relation ...
as an example; both the far-left and the far-right attack
neoliberal globalization and its
elites, but have conflicting views on who those elites are and conflicting reasons for attacking them:
Choat also argues that although proponents of the horseshoe theory may cite examples of alleged history of collusion between
fascists and
communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
, those on the far-left usually oppose the rise of far-right or fascist regimes in their countries. Instead, he argues that it has been centrists who have supported far-right and fascist regimes that they prefer in power over socialist ones.
While this formal academic analysis is fairly recent, criticism of horseshoe theory and its antecedents is long-standing, and a frequent basis for criticism has been the tendency of an observer from one position to group opposing movements together. As early as 1938, Marxist theorist and politician
Leon Trotsky wrote:
See also
*
Argument to moderation
Argument to moderation ( la, argumentum ad temperantiam)—also known as false compromise, argument from middle ground, and the golden mean fallacy
*
Centrism
*
Comparison of Nazism and Stalinism
*
Fascist syndicalism
Fascist syndicalism (related to national syndicalism) was a trade syndicate movement (''syndicat'' means trade union in French) that rose out of the pre-World War II provenance of the revolutionary syndicalism movement led mostly by Edmondo Ross ...
*
Hemicycle
In legislatures, a hemicycle is a semicircular, or horseshoe-shaped, debating chamber (''plenary chamber''), where deputies (members) sit to discuss and pass legislation. Although originally of Ancient Greek roots, the term and modern design der ...
*
Inglehart–Welzel cultural map of the world
*
LaRouche movement
The LaRouche movement is a political and cultural network promoting the late Lyndon LaRouche and his ideas. It has included many organizations and companies around the world, which campaign, gather information and publish books and periodicals ...
*
Left–right political spectrum
The left–right political spectrum is a system of classifying political positions characteristic of left-right politics, ideologies and parties with emphasis placed upon issues of social equality and social hierarchy. In addition to position ...
*
National Bolshevism
National Bolshevism (russian: национал-большевизм, natsional-bol'shevizm, german: Nationalbolschewismus), whose supporters are known as National Bolsheviks (russian: национал-большевики, natsional-bol'sheviki ...
*
Neutrality
*
Nolan Chart
*
Open–closed political spectrum
*
Overton window
*
The Political Compass
*
Political spectrum
A political spectrum is a system to characterize and classify different political positions in relation to one another. These positions sit upon one or more geometric axes that represent independent political dimensions. The expressions politi ...
*
Red-brown alliance
Shades of brown can be produced by combining red, yellow, and black pigments, or by a combination of orange and black—illustrated in the color box. The RGB color model, that generates all colors on computer and television screens, makes brown ...
*
Sorelianism
*
Strasserism
Strasserism (german: Strasserismus or ''Straßerismus'') is a strand of Nazism calling for a more radical, mass-action and worker-based form of the ideology, espousing economic antisemitism above other antisemitic forms, to achieve a national ...
*
Syncretic politics
Syncretic politics, or spectral-syncretic politics, combine elements from across the conventional left–right political spectrum. The idea of syncretic politics has been influenced by syncretism and syncretic religion. The main idea of syncretic ...
*
Third Position
The Third Position is a set of neo-fascist political ideologies that were first described in Western Europe following the Second World War. Developed in the context of the Cold War, it developed its name through the claim that it represented a ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horseshoe Theory
Dichotomies
Political science
Political spectrum
Political science terminology