Major General James G. Blunt

Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion.[1][2] A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American politics, a moderate is considered someone occupying a centre position on the left–right political spectrum.

Political position

Japan

Japan's right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has traditionally been divided into two main factions: the based on bureaucratic "conservative mainstream" (保守本流) and the hawkish nationalist "conservative anti-mainstream" (保守傍流). Among them, "conservative mainstream" is also considered a moderate wing within the LDP. The LDP's faction Kōchikai is considered a moderate wing.[3] The current LDP has conflicts between moderate patriotist and extreme nationalist supporters.[4]

The Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) was formed by a group of politicians who splintered off of the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) in 1960. The party advocated a moderate social-democratic politics and supported the U.S.-Japan Alliance.[5] The party started to slowly support neoliberalism from the 1980s, and was disbanded in 1994.[6]

Moderate social-democrats of the JSP formed the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with conservative-liberal Sakigake and other moderates of the LDP.[7] Most of the DPJ's mainstream factions moved to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), but the former DPJ's right-wing moved to the Democratic Party for the People after 2019.[8]

United States

In recent years,[vague] the term political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword. The existence of the ideal moderate is disputed because of a lack of a moderate political ideology. Voters who describe themselves as centrist often mean that they are moderate in their political views, advocating neither extreme left-wing nor extreme right-wing politics.

Gallup polling indicated that American voters identified as moderate between 35–38% of the time during the 1990s and 2000s.[9] Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological, or otherwise. It has also been suggested that individuals vote for centrist parties for purely statistical reasons.[10]

See also

References

Notes

  1. ^ Schmid, Alex P. (2013). "Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review". Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies. 4 (2). The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. doi:10.19165/2013.1.02.
  2. ^ "Types of social movements". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 10, 2020. Social movements may also be categorized on the basis of the general character of their strategy and tactics; for instance, whether they are legitimate or underground. The popular distinction between radical and moderate movements reflects this sort of categorization.
  3. ^ Karol Zakowski, ed. (2011). Kōchikai of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and Its Evolution After the Cold War Archived 2022-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  4. ^ Putz, Catherine (1 September 2022). "Jennifer Lind on Abe Shinzo and Japanese Nationalism". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  5. ^ Jeffrey Kopstein; Mark Lichbach; Stephen E. Hanson=, eds. (2014). Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order. Cambridge University Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780521135740.
  6. ^ 及川智洋 (March 2019). "第5章 第3節 民社党---社会党から分裂した社民主義政党が、反共の新自由主義政党へ". 戦後革新勢力の対立と分裂. 法政大学 博士論文(政治学) 32675甲第451号. 法政大学 (Hosei University). doi:10.15002/00021756.
  7. ^ Takashi Oka, ed. (2011). Policy Entrepreneurship and Elections in Japan: A Political Biography of Ozawa Ichirō. Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 9781136728648.
  8. ^ Spremberg, Felix (25 November 2020). "How Japan's Left is repeating its unfortunate history". International Politics & Society Journal. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  9. ^ Saad, Lydia (January 12, 2012). "Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S." Gallup. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  10. ^ Enelow and Hinich (1984). "Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections". The Journal of Politics. 46 (2). Southern Political Science Association: 459–478. doi:10.2307/2130970. JSTOR 2130970. S2CID 153540693.

Bibliography

  • Calhoon, Robert McCluer (2008), Ideology and social psychology: extremism, moderation, and contradiction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-73416-5

External links

  • The dictionary definition of political moderate at Wiktionary