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The left-right political spectrum is often taken for granted in countries where there are a cluster of beliefs that fall under left or right (often to accept one belief, such as being more pro-welfare, goes hand in hand with another, say being more pro-immigration, or anti-death penalty, etc. on this kind of spectrum).
At least in the US and much of the western world, left wing is usually associated with more socialization/welfare and government provision, as well as with environmentalism, hippies, being less militaristic, being less restrictive on social norms such as sex or gender roles etc., allowing abortion, being more pro-immigration, while right-wing is associated with being more conservative on social norms, often more religious, and more free-market and more capitalism, less socialization and fewer government provision or subsidies, more pro-military and more restrictive on immigration etc.
Even if those values don't exactly match, the liberal-conservative, or left-right paradigm dominates the USA as well as Canada and the UK as well as many European nations it seems still have a perception of "left" and "right" being a cluster of these similar types of views. Yes, I know the history of "left" and "right" and how it related to the French Revolution and being anti- or pro-establishment, although it's far removed from that now.
However, I'm curious as to whether this type of spectrum exists in many countries outside the western world and in the world as a whole. For example, in say Japan, Turkey or India, do people think of "left" and "right" that way or even have the same kind of spectrum (ie. do they lump say views on capitalism and views on being conservative on social norms such as marriage together on one spectrum)? Of course you kind of have to compare societies that are kind of democratic and developed to some degree (it doesn't make sense if the country is in a dictatorship etc. where they can't choose a political spectrum to side with).
The left-right political spectrum is often taken for granted in countries where there are a cluster of beliefs that fall under left or right (often to accept one belief, such as being more pro-welfare, goes hand in hand with another, say being more pro-immigration, or anti-death penalty, etc. on this kind of spectrum).
At least in the US and much of the western world, left wing is usually associated with more socialization/welfare and government provision, as well as with environmentalism, hippies, being less militaristic, being less restrictive on social norms such as sex or gender roles etc., allowing abortion, being more pro-immigration, while right-wing is associated with being more conservative on social norms, often more religious, and more free-market and more capitalism, less socialization and fewer government provision or subsidies, more pro-military and more restrictive on immigration etc.
Even if those values don't exactly match, the liberal-conservative, or left-right paradigm dominates the USA as well as Canada and the UK as well as many European nations it seems still have a perception of "left" and "right" being a cluster of these similar types of views. Yes, I know the history of "left" and "right" and how it related to the French Revolution and being anti- or pro-establishment, although it's far removed from that now.
However, I'm curious as to whether this type of spectrum exists in many countries outside the western world and in the world as a whole. For example, in say Japan, Turkey or India, do people think of "left" and "right" that way or even have the same kind of spectrum (ie. do they lump say views on capitalism and views on being conservative on social norms such as marriage together on one spectrum)? Of course you kind of have to compare societies that are kind of democratic and developed to some degree (it doesn't make sense if the country is in a dictatorship etc. where they can't choose a political spectrum to side with).
I am Indian, and will try to answer this question about my countryto the best of my ability. We in India have "left", "right", and "centrist" political parties. They are differentiated mainly in terms of friendliness to business. The "left" parties prefer government ownership of many industries whereas the "right" parties prefer private ownership. Left parties are also much more union friendly (and frequently organize strikes ).
As to issues such as militarism, environmentalism, marriage, etc. all parties tend to have no fixed views. They shift their ideology and views to gain maximum political mileage/ electoral gains as possible. Kind of shameful I know...
As to religion, the "left" parties tend to be opposed to most organized religion. Other parties try to gain support of different religions / sects by suiting their views to whatever religion is dominant in whichever area is going to the polls.
Americans think of Right and Left as contrasts of Economics and Civil Rights. That is a luxury that most countries cannot afford. When nearly everybody is poor, or when nobody has civil rights, these are not issues that rise very high in the consciousness of ordinary people. A few educated citizens, at some philosophical level, might have ideas that their populace might be better off through adjustments in governance, but the great majority of third world people simply have no day to day concept of such high-minded matters.
Rather than Right and Left, it is more likely that the rank and file in the third world thinks in terms of the dichotomy of Right and Wrong.
04-25-2012, 03:31 AM
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I am also curious about the political dynamics in countries all over the world and to what extent those political differences are between certain countries.
The Left-Right Political Spectrum is one important aspect of political dynamics. There are other aspects of the political dynamics that are part of the picture too.
Politics in Media and discussions can be a very nation obsessive centric topic, so that makes it easy for plenty of people to not know that much about the Politics outside of their own country.
For this aspect of Politics, China and Russia does not seem to have much of a Left-Right Political spectrum and have their own unique Political views. And that is mostly because of their Communism Political history.
But even within this, China expressed their Communism Political system very differently from Russia.
Countries with very homogenous political views in the population probably don’t have that much of a Left-Right political spectrum. My conjectures for those examples are some Eastern European countries (Poland, Hungary, Romania), some East/South/and Southeast Asian nations (Thailand, Japan, South Korea), some African nations (Ghana, South Africa, Gabon), and some Middle Eastern nations (Lebanon, Turkey, UAE).
The countries with the most diverse political views in the general population and with the most obvious Left-Right political spectrum system appear to be the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany, and Italy.
Homogenous political views in a country does not always have to be bad. It can actually be good and stable for a country sometimes, maybe even plenty of times.
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The terms 'conservative' or 'liberal' are not constantly thrown around like they are in American politics here in Australia. The two parties are more similar than they are different, although the media likes to paint one as a bunch of right-wing traditionalists, and the other as communists even though their views on a lot of the big issues are actually similar. Climate change, support for big business, healthcare, and an opposite to gay marriage.
politics in ireland is terminally centrist , we have no proper right wing party and our far left parties are tiny and not taken seriously , they never ever get into power , the vast majority of goverments are made up of coalitions between ever so slightly centre left parties and ever so slightly centre right parties , us irish are a deeply unidealogical people so our political landscape is coloured in various shades of grey
from a european standpoint , thier is no left ( even centre left ) in american politics , the democrats would be considered well to the right in almost any european country and the republican party would be more to the right than the british BNP , the le pen party in france and musolinnis granddaughters party in italy , on every issue bar that of race , those parties are all protectionist on economic issues
I am Indian, and will try to answer this question about my countryto the best of my ability. We in India have "left", "right", and "centrist" political parties. They are differentiated mainly in terms of friendliness to business. The "left" parties prefer government ownership of many industries whereas the "right" parties prefer private ownership. Left parties are also much more union friendly (and frequently organize strikes ).
As to issues such as militarism, environmentalism, marriage, etc. all parties tend to have no fixed views. They shift their ideology and views to gain maximum political mileage/ electoral gains as possible. Kind of shameful I know...
As to religion, the "left" parties tend to be opposed to most organized religion. Other parties try to gain support of different religions / sects by suiting their views to whatever religion is dominant in whichever area is going to the polls.
Immigration is not an issue in my country.
Interesting that even in India, the views on business go hand in hand with the views on religion, and "leftists", just like in the west, are opposed to both organized religion and privatization.
What interests me about the left-right or any kind of political spectrum in general is whether or if the same clusters of issues tend to go together or be seen as closely related (eg. a view on marriage, environmentalism etc. links you to another view on immigration or militarism or something), and if so, do they tend to link together in similar or very different ways in different nations.
The first country that came to my mind in having no political spectrum is North Korea. An isolated paranoid regime based on a mix of totalitarianism and a cult of personality.
In Canada in general, the battle is between the left, centre and right. There are pretty strong parties representing all three viewpoints.
The one exception is provincial politics in the province of Quebec, where the main schism is between those who want to stay in Canada and those who want to leave. It is often said that both of the main parties are fairly similar (centrist), except for their views on Quebec's place in Canada (or not). A lot of people deplore that there never is a true left vs. right debate in Quebec, and there are attempts by new parties to change this. We will see how it turns out.
For this aspect of Politics, China and Russia does not seem to have much of a Left-Right Political spectrum and have their own unique Political views. And that is mostly because of their Communism Political history.
In the Eastern Bloc, it tends to boil down to the Communists trying to regain power (which they sometimes manage to do), and more liberal democratic parties. Occasionally you get the oddball reactionary/anti-ethnic crank party.
Germany has a strong Green Party, which doesn't really characterize itself as Left or Right, AFAIK.
Ecuador has the most diversity and number of parties. Last time I was there, there were 17 parties, oh, +1 when an Indigenous Party was created. Several of those 17 were far Left: 3 Maoist parties, a Communist Party, a Socialist Party. The Indigenous Party functions as the environmentalist party, and is left of center. It was a wild scene. Now some of the Left parties have formed a coalition, and elected the President. There are fewer parties now, but still a wider diversity than most other countries I've observed.
Interesting that the views-on-marriage question came up. That seems to be a uniquely American phenomenon. Canada and Australia have already legalized gay marriage. I'm not aware of it actually being part of a political platform anywhere but the US. Which tells you something about the US.
Mexico was dominated for generations by a party that called itself "revolutionary" (the PRI), but once it got entrenched, was anything but revolutionary. Until the 90's it was pretty much a one-party system, for all practical purposes.
In Zimbabwe, political parties have tended to form along tribal lines. Maybe now with the (relatively) new party for democratic change, it's more heterogenous.
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