Moderate

Moderate is a general term for people who fall in the center category of the left–right political spectrum.

History

Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.[1]

Political position

In recent years, 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 politics nor right-wing politics. Gallup polling has shown American voters identifying themselves as moderate between 35–38% of the time over the last 20 years.[2] Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological or otherwise. It has even been suggested that individuals vote for centrist parties for purely statistical reasons.[3]

Religious position

In religion, the moderate position is centered and opposed to liberalism or conservatism.[4] For example in Christianity, moderates in evangelicalism would oppose the ideas of Christian right and Christian fundamentalism, as well as liberal Christians oppose the idea of Christian left. For Islam, moderates oppose the extreme views of Islamic extremism and Islamic fundamentalism.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Aristotle, Sir Ernest Barker, R. F. Stalley (1998), Politics, Oxford University Press, p. xxv, ISBN 978-0-19-283393-8
  2. ↑ Saad, Lydia (January 12, 2012). "Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S." Gallup. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  3. ↑ Enelow and Hinich (1984). "Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections". The Journal of Politics. Southern Political Science Association. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  4. ↑ Peter Clarke, The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of Religion, Oxford University Press, UK, 2011, p. 512
  • Calhoon, Robert McCluer (2008), Ideology and social psychology: extremism, moderation, and contradiction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-73416-5

Moderates are a political party that are neither left or right.

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