Centre-left politics
Ideas commonly supported by the centre-left include welfare capitalism, social justice, liberal internationalism, and multiculturalism.
Social democracy became the dominant ideology in Western Europe during the post–World War II economic expansion and it spread to Africa after decolonization.
[6] It seeks to regulate capitalism to protect social equality,[7] advocating reforms that benefit the entire people and the common good while rejecting the Marxist position of aligning specifically with the working class.
[16] This form of liberalism argues in favour of capitalism and the benefits it provides for society, but it also advocates regulations to reduce wealth inequality.
It rejects the idea that the upper class seeks to harm or exploit members of society, instead arguing that these are unintentional effects of laissez-faire economics.
[22][23][24] Progressivism is the support of continuous social reform to improve society gradually, opposing revolutionary or conservative politics.
[1][3] There is great divergence within the progressive movement, with disagreement in what reforms should be attempted and how they can be implemented,[3] though redistributive policies are a common theme within progressivism.
[26] It challenges modern industrialisation and institutions through a lens of social justice[27] while rejecting traditional political philosophy and organization.
[29] Besides environmentalism, green politics often includes support for disarmament,[30] ending nuclear power,[30] decentralized democracy,[31] feminism,[32] and immigration.
[34] It was initially developed in Australia and New Zealand,[30] and it first gained influence in Germany as a response to the Cold War and environmental issues.
[38] To accomplish this, it supports heavy deregulation and privatization for the purpose of increasing economic growth to fund public goods such as education, healthcare, and pensions.
[41] Though most enduring Christian democratic parties are centrist,[42] those in Latin America have historically ranged across the political spectrum, with centre-left and centre-right variants both being common.
Promotion of general welfare, supporting members of the family, and the ideal of the Harmonious Society all have implications for centre-left politics.
[53] The centre-left, along with the centre-right, implemented this foreign policy in Europe during the Cold War, but it has become less prominent due to the rise of anti-globalist far-right parties.
[57] The centre-left often faces pressures from working class voters to restrict immigration to prevent competition over jobs and public services.
[61] In the 20th century, trade unions and their working class constituency were closely associated with social democratic and labour parties, especially in Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and former British colonies in the Pacific.
[68] Centre-left parties in Europe and the United States have supported corporate governance reform to protect the investments of shareholders.
In Italy, the centre-left was born as coalition between the liberal Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour and the progressive Urbano Rattazzi, the heads respectively of the Right and Left groupings in Parliament.
[12] Social democracy had developed as a major political movement in Europe by the early 20th century as a response to the strength of capitalism.
[6] Challenging the idea that capitalism was nearing an implosion, reformist socialists such as Eduard Bernstein rejected Marxist ideas of historical materialism and class conflict,[81][9] and social democrats established themselves as a reformist alternative to the revolutionary left, arguing that societal improvements within capitalist democracy would better serve the working class.
[81] Social democrats made up the centre-left during the interwar period in Europe, advocating government regulation and intervention in opposition to the passive policies of the predominant Marxist and classical liberal parties.
[82] During the Great Depression in the 1930s, social democracy became a viable alternative to other left-wing ideologies,[9] and state intervention saw popular support throughout the western world.
[87] Centre-left politics were historically unpopular in Latin America,[88] and left-wing candidates were kept out of power through both right-wing dictatorships and through conservative victories in fair elections.
[89] In the mid-20th century, centre-left politics supported state-led development and industrialization in the region, which allowed redistributive and socially inclusive policies to be implemented.
[90] Keynesian economics declined in popularity after the end of the post-war consensus, spurred by the 1970s energy crisis and the subsequent recession.
[84] A decline in the relevance of trade unions, historically a prominent voter group for social democratic parties, contributed to the limited success of centre-left politics in the 1980s.
[92] Furthermore, centre-left policies faced new challenges that necessitated a reconsideration of the welfare state, including population ageing that threatened pension programs and women in the workforce that heavily altered the job market.
[88] Early centre-left politics and progressivism in Latin America has focused heavily on the inclusion of previously excluded groups in society through citizenship and its associated rights.
[103] The Great Recession exacerbated this trend, bringing significant challenges to the rule of centre-left parties, particularly those with social democratic leanings.
[108] The Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa supported ideals often associated with social democracy and the centre-left.
