Online Encyclopedia
Centrism
In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. Most commonly, this is visualized as part of the one-dimensional political spectrum of Left-Right politics, with centrism landing in the middle between left-wing politics and right-wing politics. However, there is arguably more than one dimension to politics, so even the center has its own radicals as exemplified by radical centrist politics.
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Comparisons
Centrists, with their fondness for majority rule, share some ideals with classical democrats, though it distances itself from the strong ideological commitments often associated with that viewpoint. Close and sometimes overlapping with centrism are the ideals of political liberalism (in the European sense), though the latter generally emphasizes individual rather than the community.
Significance
Centrism is important because it applies to very large swaths of the populace. In many countries, most members of the public tend to identify themselves as independent rather than as left-wing, right-wing, or any other political extreme. Politicians of many parties try to appeal to this so-called Vital Center, although many pundits find fault in this approach. For example, candidates using centrist politics to gain wider appeal risk losing support from the more idealistic members of their political parties. Also, centrist candidates may find themselves strongly agreeing with opponents in debates, potentially confusing voters as to how they stack up. This may have contributed to the controversial outcome of the 2000 U.S. presidential election in the United States (admittedly aggravated by political polarization among voters, a fairly different phenomenon).
Centrism in the Bolshevik and Third International traditions
Centrism has a specific meaning within the Bolshevik and Third International political traditions. It usually reflects an ideologically held position between a revolutionary and reformist position. For instance, the Independent Labour Party was seen as revolutionary centrist because they were seen as radical formations that were moving towards a revolutionary position and had the potential to either become full fledged revolutionary parties or have a large number of their members move towards an openly revolutionary position. Centrism is seen as opportunistic as it promises a revolution at some far-off point but urges reformist practices in the mean time but it Centrist movements are seen as being pregnant with revolutionary possibilities because of their internal contradictions and the possibility of winning them to a purely revolutionary position given the right circumstances.
Centrism also denotes positions held in the 1920s inner-party debates of the Bolsheviks. This centrist was to the left of rightism which denoted continued support for the New Economic Program and accommodation with the bourgeoisie nations. It was, however, to the right of leftism which denoted an immediate return to class warfare within the Soviet Union, including collectivisation, nationalisation and central planning. By the end of the 1920s the centrists had been outmanouvred by Joseph Stalin who, while casually aligning with all three positions, built his own power bloc and then implemented a particularly rigorous form of the leftist program.
See: Two Articles on Centrism by Leon Trotsky http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/works/1934/1934-centrism.htm