Centre-left politics lean to the left on the

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 ...

but are closer to the centre than other left-wing politics. Those on the centre-left believe in working within the established systems to improve social justice. The centre-left promotes a degree of social equality that it believes is achievable through promoting

equal opportunity Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...

.Oliver H. Woshinsky. ''Explaining Politics: Culture, Institutions, and Political Behavior''. New York: Routledge, 2008, pp. 143. The centre-left emphasizes that the achievement of equality requires personal responsibility in areas in control by the individual person through their abilities and talents as well as social responsibility in areas outside control by the person in their abilities or talents. The centre-left opposes a wide gap between the rich and the poor and supports moderate measures to reduce the economic gap, such as a

progressive income tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progre ...

, laws prohibiting child labour, minimum wage laws, laws regulating working conditions, limits on working hours and laws to ensure the workers' right to organize. The centre-left typically claims that complete

equality of outcome Equality of outcome, equality of condition, or equality of results is a political concept which is central to some political ideologies and is used in some political discourse, often in contrast to the term equality of opportunity. It describes a ...

is not possible, but instead that equal opportunity improves a degree of equality of outcome in society. In

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, the centre-left includes

social democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, progressives, greens and the moderate Christian left. Some variants of

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

, especially social liberalism, are described as centre-left, but many social liberals are in the centre of 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 ...

as well. In the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, in relation to economic policy, the center-left also includes economic progressive forms of Christian democracy, some of which may be politically syncretic mixing in the social conservatism of the center-right.

Positions

The main ideologies of the centre-left are

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

(moderate forms), social liberalism (sometimes, when paired with other ideologies; can also be considered centrist),

progressivism Progressivism holds that it is possible to improve human societies through political action. As a political movement, progressivism seeks to advance the human condition through social reform based on purported advancements in science, tec ...

and green politics (also can take place under a

red–green alliance In politics, a red–green alliance or red–green coalition is an alliance of "red" (often social-democratic or democratic socialist) parties with "green" (often green and/or occasionally agrarian) parties. The alliance is often based on commo ...

when cooperating with other parties on the left). Throughout the world, centre-left groups generally support: * A

mixed economy A mixed economy is variously defined as an economic system blending elements of a market economy with elements of a planned economy, markets with state interventionism, or private enterprise with public enterprise. Common to all mixed economie ...

consisting of both publicly owned or subsidized programmes of education, universal health care, child care and related social services for all citizens. * A system of social security, with the stated goal of counteracting the effects of poverty and insuring the general public against loss of income following illness, unemployment or retirement (national insurance contributions). * Government bodies that regulate private enterprise in the interests of workers and consumers by ensuring labor and consumer rights (e.g. supporting worker access to trade unions, workers participation, consumer protections and fair market competition). * A system of progressive taxation that includes

tax breaks Tax break also known as tax preferences, tax concession, and tax relief, are a method of reduction to the tax liability of taxpayers. Government usually applies them to stimulate the economy and increase the solvency of the population. By this fi ...

and

subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

for those under poverty extended from government. * A

value-added tax A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...

(or occasionally a wealth tax) to fund government expenditures. * Government investments and spending, for example in

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, sc ...

and Keynesian economics. The term may be used to imply positions on the environment, religion, public morality, etc., but these are usually not the defining characteristics, since centre-right parties may sometimes take similar positions on these issues. A centre-left party may or may not be more concerned with reducing industrial emissions than a centre-right party if not explicitly adhering to a green ideology.

History

Academia is also divided on when the term "centre-left" came out. Scholars believe that it mainly appeared between the Bourbon Restoration (1814–1830) and the July Monarchy (1830–1848), a political-historical phase during the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

reigned under an almost

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

. During this period, the centre-left mainly showed

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

and Movement Party. The Republicans was classified as left to far-left. the Third Party and the conservative-liberal Doctrinaires is centrist. Resistance Party was classified as centre-right and

Ultra-royalists The Ultra-royalists (french: ultraroyalistes, collectively Ultras) were a French political faction from 1815 to 1830 under the Bourbon Restoration. An Ultra was usually a member of the nobility of high society who strongly supported Roman Cathol ...

as right to far-right. During this time, the centre-left was led by Adolphe Thiers (head of the liberal-nationalist Movement Party) and Odilon Barrot, who headed the

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 ...

"Dynastic Opposition". The centre-left was

Orléanist Orléanist (french: Orléaniste) was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that cent ...

, but supported a liberal interpretation of the Charter of 1830, more power to the Parliament,

manhood suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slog ...

and support to rising European nationalisms. Adolphe Thiers served as

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

for King

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

twice (in 1836 and 1840), but he then lost the King's favour, and the centre-left rapidly fell. In France, during the Second Republic and the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

the centre-left was not strong or organized, but became commonly associated with the moderate republicans' group in Parliament. Finally, in 1871 the Second Empire fell as consequence of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War and Adolphe Thiers re-established the centre-left after the foundation of the Third Republic. This time the centre-left was constituted of moderate republicans, then called " Opportunists", anti-royalist liberals and radicals from the Republican Union. During the Third Republic, the centre-left was led by political and intellectual figures like Jules Dufaure,

Édouard René de Laboulaye __NOTOC__ Édouard René Lefèbvre de Laboulaye (; 18 January 1811 – 25 May 1883) was a French jurist, poet, author and anti-slavery activist. In 1865, he originated the idea of a monument presented by the French people to the United States th ...

Charles de Rémusat Charles François Marie, Comte de Rémusat (, 13 March 1797 – 6 June 1875), was a French politician and writer. Biography He was born in Paris. His father, Auguste Laurent, Comte de Rémusat, whose family came from Toulouse, was chamber ...

, Léon Say,

William Waddington William Henry Waddington (11 December 182613 January 1894) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister in 1879, and as an Ambassador of France. Early life and education Waddington was born at the Château of Saint-Rémy in Eure-et-Loi ...

Jean Casimir-Perier Jean Paul Pierre Casimir-Perier (; 8 November 1847 – 11 March 1907) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1894 to 1895. Biography He was born in Paris, the son of Auguste Casimir-Perier, the grandson of Casimir Pierr ...

, Edmond Henri Adolphe Schérer and

Georges Picot Georges Marie René Picot (; 24 December 1838 – 16 August 1909) was a French lawyer and historian. His main work is ''Histoire des États généraux'' for which he twice gained the prize of the French Academy in 1873 and 1874. Biography Ge ...

Elsewhere in Europe, centre-left movements appeared from the 1860s, mainly in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In Italy, the centre-left was born as coalition between the liberal

Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri (, 10 August 1810 – 6 June 1861), generally known as Cavour ( , ), was an Italian politician, businessman, economist and noble, and a leading figure in the movement tow ...

and the progressive Urbano Rattazzi, the heads respectively of the Right and Left groupings in Parliament. This alliance was called "''connubio''" ("marriage") for its opportunist characteristics. In the 1900s, centre-left positions were expressed by people and parties who believed in

and democratic socialism, but also some liberals or Christian-democrats were associated with the centre-left. Currently, the centre-left parties in Europe are united in the social democratic

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a social democratic and progressive European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all member states of the European Union (EU) plus Norway and the United Kingdom. ...

and ecologist

European Green Party The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Free ...

. The prevalence of the position occurred mainly due to the rise of

socialism Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...

caused Liberals to move away from ''

laissez-faire ''Laissez-faire'' ( ; from french: laissez faire , ) is an economic system in which transactions between private groups of people are free from any form of economic interventionism (such as subsidies) deriving from special interest groups ...

'' policies to more interventionist policies, which created the New Liberal movement. New liberalism (or social liberalism), along with moderate socialism, is regarded as a representative modern centre-left ideology.

List of major centre-left parties by country

* Labour Party

* Labor Party

Progressive Liberal Party The Progressive Liberal Party ( abbreviated PLP) is a populist and social liberal party in the Bahamas. Philip Davis is the leader of the party. History The PLP was founded in 1953 by William Cartwright, Cyril Stevenson, and Henry Milton T ...

(factions)

* Awami League (factions)

* Labour Party * Democratic Labour Party

People's United Party The People's United Party (PUP) is one of two major political parties in Belize. It is currently the governing party of Belize after success in the 2020 Belizean general election, winning a majority of 26 seats out of 31 in the Belizean House ...

* Belize People's Front

* Umbrella for Democratic Change

* Workers' Party * Democratic Labour Party * Brazilian Socialist Party * Party of National Mobilization * Green Party * Solidarity * Sustainability Network

* Social Democratic Front

* New Democratic Party * Bloc Québécois * Green Party (factions) *

* Labour Party

* United Democratic Party (factions)

* National Democratic Congress

* People's Progressive Party * A Partnership for National Unity (factions) * People's National Congress * Alliance for Change (factions)

* Aam Aadmi Party *

All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief mi ...

* All India Trinamool Congress * Biju Janata Dal *

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

(factions) * Rashtriya Janata Dal * Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur G ...

(factions) * Labour Party * Green Party *

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

People's National Party The People's National Party (PNP) is a social-democratic political party in Jamaica, founded in 1938 by independence campaigner Osmond Theodore Fairclough. It holds 14 of the 63 seats in the House of Representatives, as 96 of the 227 local go ...

Orange Democratic Movement The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is a centre-left political party in Kenya. It is the successor of a grassroots people's movement which was formed during the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum campaign. This movement separated in Augu ...

Wiper Democratic Movement – Kenya The Wiper Democratic Movement–Kenya (WDM-K), formally Orange Democratic Movement–Kenya (ODM–Kenya), is a political party in Kenya, which originated as a result of the 2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum. It is headed by Kalonzo Musyoka, w ...

* National Rainbow Coalition

People's Justice Party The People's Justice Party ( ms, Parti Keadilan Rakyat , often known simply as KEADILAN or PKR) is a reformist political party in Malaysia, formed in 2003 by a merger of the National Justice Party and the older Malaysian People's Party. The ...

Democratic Action Party The Democratic Action Party (abbreviation: DAP; ms, Parti Tindakan Demokratik; ; ta, ஜனநாயக செயல் கட்சி) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Malaysia. As one of four component parties of the ...

* National Trust Party

* Labour Party * Militant Socialist Movement

* Labour Party *

Māori Party Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

* All Progressives Congress

Pakistan People's Party The Pakistan People's Party ( ur, , ; PPP) is a centre-left, social-democratic political party in Pakistan. It is currently the third largest party in the National Assembly and second largest in the Senate of Pakistan. The party was founded i ...

* Pakistan Peoples Party Workers * Awami National Party * Shia Ulema Council * Qaumi Watan Party * National Democratic Movement * Sindh National Front * National Party * Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan

* Akbayan *

* PDP-Laban

United Seychelles United Seychelles is a political party in Seychelles. It publishes a newspaper called ''The People''. It was known as the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (french: Front Progressiste du Peuple Seychellois) until June 2009, when it changed i ...

* Workers' Party *

Progress Singapore Party The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition ...

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a social-democratic political party in South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when the first post-apartheid election install ...

* People's Freedom Alliance (factions) * Tamil National Alliance

* People's National Movement (factions) * United National Congress

* Labour Party * Liberal Democrats (factions) * – ** Scottish National Party ** Scottish Labour ** Scottish Greens ** Scottish Liberal Democrats (factions) * – ** Welsh Labour **

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

(factions) **

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats ( cy, Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru) are a branch of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats that operates in Wales. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire from August to Decemb ...

(factions) *

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

– **

(factions) ** Social Democratic and Labour Party ** Green Party (factions) ** Alliance Party (factions)

* Democratic Party ( factions)

* Patriotic Front

* Movement for Democratic Change * Citizens Coalition For Change

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Centre-Left Centrism Left-wing politics Political spectrum Political terminology

Positions

History

List of major centre-left parties by country

See also

References

External links