Ever wondered why do people use the terms left and right a lot during the election years? Well, they are not just giving directions by using those terms. These have some meaning to them.
When people try to dig up the meaning of those terms, they usually ask are republicans left or right. The same thing goes for the democrats as well. And we are here to answer all of those questions in this article.
Our team has enough political knowledge to understand these terms. Even after that, we did a lot of digging regarding the topic we have in hand.
And the things that we have learned through the research we have carried out will be in this article. So, get into a comfortable position and start reading!
What Is A Left-Right Political Spectrum?
Before we answer whether republicans are left or right, we would like to ensure that you have enough knowledge regarding the spectrum.
This spectrum is a political system that classifies political positions. It also states the ideologies and the nature of the parties.
However, what does the spectrum depend on? Well, it is based on the social hierarchy and social equality of the parties. Not many of the politician will agree with this system.
They will propose that instead of thinking of the system as two dimensional, think of it as one-dimensional. But that is not what we are after here.
Nonetheless, on this spectrum, the left and right-winged parties are considered to be opponents.
That means the left-winged parties will be against the right-winged parties. Both of them will stand in the election as separate parties and will receive votes accordingly.
Origin
So, where and when did this left-right political spectrum start? Well, it began in France. The terms originated there.
The left ones are called the “the party of movement,” while the right ones are referred to as “the party of order.” However, this viewpoint has nothing to do with the political system of the USA.
The Left
In the viewpoint of modern politics, the left means liberal view. In other words, the parties that are on the left will be supportive of progressive reforms. They will also seek more significant economic and social equality.
However, the “far-left” will often be used to describe some of these parties. Like you might have guessed, that term means that the parties are more extreme.
In other words, the parties will have a significant revolutionary viewpoint. An excellent example of that would be socialism and communism.
Additionally, the people or citizens who support the extreme viewpoint will be referred to as left-wing or left supporters.
The Right
The term right is entirely opposite to what the left means in both directions and in the political sense. But what does it actually mean from a political viewpoint? Well, it refers to the group or parties that are leaning towards conservative views.
This would dictate that the parties on the right are disposed to preserve the presently existing institutions and conditions.
Many would also argue that the right-winged parties want to restore the traditional viewpoint of politics and limit the overall changes that are occurring. Both are right!
Like the left, many people will also use the term “the far right” to describe a party. That would mean that extreme and major nationalistic viewpoints. And this includes oppressive ideologies and fascism.
On that note, the people and the parties that follow and support this ideology are right-wing.
Who Are The Republicans?
The Republican Party in the USA is also known as the GOP, which stands for the Grand Old Party. This party is one of the two major parties that are contemporary at the moment. And the rival? Democrats.
This party came to the political scenario in the year 1854. The founders were the opponents of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
During the early days, the party supported economic and social reform. They were the advocates of classical liberalism. And what they opposed the most? Slavery!
Abraham Lincoln was the first president that led the party. Under his leadership, the party could ban slavery across the entire USA in the year 1865. During the 3rd and 4th party system periods, the GOP was highly dominant.
In those times, the ideology of the party was to commit firmly to tariffs and protectionism. However, during the 20th century, the party leaned forward to support free trade.
Up until now, there have been 19 republican presidents. And as of early 2021, this party controls 23 state governments trifecta, 30 different state legislatures, and 27 state governorships.
On that note, 6 of the 9 justices sitting inside the US supreme court were nominated by the Republican presidents. So, you can guess how much influence they have on the whole law and the country’s judiciary system.
Who Are The Democrats?
We have mentioned and will mention the Democratic Party plenty of times in this article. So, we believe they deserve a proper introduction as well.
They are the other major political party in the USA. And before the year 1860, they supported a limited government system and state sovereignty.
They were highly opposed to the idea of the national bank and high tariffs. This ideology continued till the late 19th century.
During the early 20th century, they were the advocates of progressive reforms. And they are opposed to the idea of imperialism.
As of now, this party holds 15 state government trifecta, 18 state legislatures, and 23 state governorships.
They are still advocating the social issues, and the rest of the three judiciaries sitting in the US supreme court were appointed and nominated by the Democratic Presidents.
Are Republicans Right?
Considering the overall ideology of the parties, people would refer to the republicans as right-winged. In fact, they are on the far right. That means their ideologies are on the extreme side. But does that make the Democratic Party left-winged? Not really!
Over time, the Democratic parties have lost all of their interest regarding social and economic equalities. And those ideologies are considered to be the absolute left of the spectrum. This started with the Clintons and is still prevalent at this moment.
Instead of focusing on the real ‘left,’ which is stuff regarding ethics, morals, and personal freedom, they are now more about preserving the traditional viewpoint of politics.
However, they are not as extreme as the republicans. That makes them stay in the center of the right spectrum.
Additionally, people used to think that the “left” side was dangerous. But that viewpoint is not valid now.
Left is now considered to be progressive now. So, basically, now the spectrum is about conservatives and progressives. The former viewpoint of the left pushed personal freedom, while the latter goes for progress.
Why Are Republicans Considered Right Wing?
As you know by now, the left wing was for personal freedom and balancing the social and economic scale of the people.
But now, the viewpoint stands for progress. The republicans are now manifesting all of the moral tenets of the right-wing view. To be exact, they are displaying the extreme right.
They now focus on defense and law, which makes them sit perfectly on the extreme right of the scale.
And their concern regarding personal freedom and social and economic balance is not that significant. This ideology is what makes the Republicans right-winged.
Are Left-Winged Parties Bad?
Not really! There is no such thing as bad in the political viewpoint. In a state, there will be plenty of parties that will stand in the election.
It is pretty natural for each of them to have a different viewpoint and goal. And just because the ideology of the parties is not the same, it does not mean that they are wrong.
To understand this correctly, you must get back right into the meaning of left-winged parties.
What do they stand for? Before, it was about labor, equality in terms of social and economic conditions. The parties that were extreme about it were on the very left of the spectrum.
Now, the ideology has a bit of change. Instead of going all in the equality, it focuses on progress.
It is firmly against sticking to the traditional viewpoint of politics, which is to conserve what already is established. The ideology is to make progress over the things that are already available.
However, you might be ultimately against this. But that does not put you in a position to say that the left-winged parties are wrong.
The goals that these parties pursue are entirely independent and separate matters. And if there were no oppositions, politics would not exist.
Final Words
We hope that after reading through the entire article, you got the answer to the question of: are republicans left or right and all the things related to it.
And now that you know all about the system, hopefully, you will not feel lost when someone uses the left and right terms to describe a political party.