Political Science

A political spectrum refers to a system of classifying diverse political positions which

enables each party to portray an independent political dimension. The left, right and middle are

the key terms that are associated with the political spectrum. The left wing essentially violates

the rights of human beings and enforce various systems and ideologies for people to adhere to.

The left wing incorporates pure communism, socialism, fascism, anarchy and Theocracy. The

right wing respect the rights of human beings and gives them a chance to do what they want by

respecting diverse systems and ideologies. The use of force is not common here because people

are given the right of choice in various aspects of their lives. The right wing incorporates

capitalism, classical liberalism and constitutional republicanism (Jones, 2018). The middle wing

entails those who do not have a firm stand on the ideologies of either the left or right wing. The

support some of the ideologies in the two wings and are against others. It entails modern

liberalism, progressivism and conservatism. The following tables show the conflicting ideologies

of the left and right wing.

Left Wing Right wing

Violation of human rights Respects the human rights

Uses extreme force Does not use force

Uses the Keynesian approach economically.

Uses the classical approach economically.

More government regulation and control

Less government regulation and control

The author has clearly demonstrated the ideologies that those who stand in the different

political positions for believe and stand for till the present day. There have been some instance

swhere the two major wings which are the left and right have had conflicting stands about

immigration and same sex relationships. Those on the left were opposed of the same sex

relationship and were very strict about immigration while those on the right were in support of

same sex relationship and were lenient on immigration. The author does not pay attention on

those who stand on the middle and has mostly dealt with the left and right wings. I have not

encountered an instance where the author is biased in the text.

A one dimensional political spectrum is a situation whereby people may behave in a

manner where liberal positions are on the left and conservative positions on the right. Liberal

democracy refers to a government form whereby the majority can elect their favorable

candidates to act as leaders but cannot restrict the extent of human rights. A liberal conservative

will show up as moderate in the one dimensional political spectrum. A huge percentage of

Americans are referred to as moderate because they are liberal and are in support of human rights

and are very suspicious of huge corporations. When a person indicates that he/she has become

more moderate with age, he/she means that they have turned to be more liberal thus appreciate

the virtues that are associated with the freedom in action(https://www.huffingtonpost.com/

timothy-ferris/conservative-is-not-oppos_b_463726.html).

The following is a diagram that portrays a one dimensional political spectrum.

Left

Left

Liberalism Right

Conservatism Central

The following is a two dimensional diagram showing the positions that various parties take.

Authoritarianism




Communists Generic tyrants Fascists

State Socialism

Social democracy

Democratic party

Republican Party

Democratic socialism

Socialists Conservatives Tea/Reform Party

Libertarian Socialism

Classical Liberalism Right wing libertarianism and Monarchism

Green Party

Labour party

Democratic Party

Socialists

Communists

Republicans

Communists

Tea Party

Fascists

Conservatives

Libertarians

Progressive/Liberals

Liberalism

I placed the parties on the different positions of both the one and two dimensional

political spectrum based on the ideologies they stand for. The left wing strives for an equal

society and believe that the state has a significant role to play in people’s lives. This entails

regulating businesses and imposing high taxes on them and hold progressive views such as

opposing the death penalty and supporting the same sex relationship (Elias, 2015). They are

lenient on issues such as immigration and follow the Keynesian approach economically. The

Keynesian approach involves taxing highly during high economic times and using the money

when the economy really needs it. The right believe that the government should have limited

control on people’s lives and businesses. They also hold more traditional and religious beliefs

and are constantly opposing what the right support such as same sex relationships and the right

of women to abortion (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlQ5fGECmsA). The right wing

incorporates the classical approach economically which entails less regulation and more

innovation and lower taxes which are aimed to increase growth. Those who are centrally placed

are those who hold views of both the left and right wing and include Libertarians. (https://

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9dxFrAk-I)

References

Jones, B. (2018). Political ideas: the major parties. In Politics UK (pp. 94-114). Routledge.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/timothy-ferris/conservative-is-not-oppos_b_463726.html

Elias, A., Szöcsik, E., & Zuber, C. I. (2015). Position, selective emphasis and framing: How

parties deal with a second dimension in competition. Party Politics, 21(6), 839-850.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlQ5fGECmsA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW9dxFrAk-I