Centre-right politics
The centre-right commonly supports ideas such as small government, law and order, freedom of religion, and strong national security.
It first developed as a political force with the creation of party systems in the 19th century, when monarchist and religious conservatives competed with individualist and anti-clerical liberals.
[1][2] Centre-right parties and coalitions are traditionally understood to be divided into separate factions depending on their priorities: economic, social, and cultural.
[5][6][7] It applies Christian morality to political issues, giving a religious justification for supporting democratisation, individual liberties, and international cooperation.
[12] The centre-right generally seeks to preserve the societal status quo, in both a cultural and socioeconomic context,[31] and it is opposed to the radical politics espoused by the far-right.
[34] The centre-right's handling of the economy, its incrementalist approach to politics, and its support for the status quo have been attributed to its ability to remain in power for extended periods of time.
[33] First developed by Christian democrats in post-war Germany, this system allows the state to intervene in the economy to regulate how business may be conducted, but it opposes nationalisation or infringement on the free market.
It is often more reluctant to support peace agreements because these often involve compromising on other centre-right positions such as maintaining a strong ethnic and religious identity.
[40] European centre-right parties place higher priority on Christianity and providing support to Christians—a trait often shared with their far-right counterparts.
[49] While opposition to immigration is most commonly associated with far-right politics, the centre-right can attract support from voters with more moderate anti-immigrant positions.
[2] Supporters of centre-right politics in Europe often fear that immigration will lead to consequences such as increased crime, abuse of welfare, or acts of terrorism.
[41] Right-wing politics has historically opposed social acceptance of lesbian, gay, and bisexual people, but the European centre-right has come to support protections on the basis of sexual orientation.
[14] Due to limitations in suffrage, early centre-right parties were able to maintain sufficient support by appealing solely to the upper class.
[65] In nations where the centre-right lacked a unified party, such as Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, far-right movements seized power.
[59] Strong pre-existing centre-right parties retained power in other countries, including Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
[66] The use of market economics to keep wages steady, as well as the relative weakness of labour unions, meant that centre-right liberalism went unchallenged in much of Europe.
[67] In the aftermath of World War II, the old centre-right was discredited in Europe, where it was seen as responsible for the Great Depression and complicit in the rise of fascism.
[69][32][70] They sought to avoid the far-right and far-left politics that had brought about Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, respectively,[69][71] and they saw European integration as a means to protect against socialism and anti-Christianity.
[36] Alcide De Gasperi similarly brought about the creation of a strong Christian democratic movement in Italy,[33] which was a leading political force in various coalitions for over 50 years.
[76] The United Kingdom was the only major exception to the spread of Christian democracy, as its old centre-right was seen as triumphant under the wartime leadership of Winston Churchill, and the failure of Nazi Germany to invade meant that its pre-war institutions remained intact.
[81] The American centre-right promoted pro-business stances over the following decades, which led to economic justifications for supporting higher taxes as well as social programs such as public housing.
[38] The predominantly centre-right United States Republican Party began a rightward shift in the 1980s, with its moderate factions declining in numbers over the following decades.
[81] The Indian Bharatiya Janata Party followed the Western centre-right strategy in the 1980s and 1990s, appealing to the centre while maintaining a militarist, nationalist platform.
[94] Post-communist centre-right groups were more inclined toward liberal positions, favouring market capitalist policies over government intervention, which was associated with communist rule.
[95] Anti-communism and anti-totalitarianism were paramount among all factions of the centre-right in these regions, and they condemned the West for treating mass killings under communist regimes differently than the Holocaust.
[102] This was especially true in Central and Eastern Europe, where memories of the Soviet Union encouraged close alignment with the United States and strong support for combatting dictatorships.
[105] Although citizens throughout Latin America most commonly self-identified as centre-right, the region saw a surge of popularity for expanding government programs and state ownership,[106] leading to a leftward shift that began in 1998.
[112] To regain support, the European centre-right shifted toward the centre and moved away from neoliberalism, replacing it with a renewed focus on public safety, economic growth, and social issues.
[113] It saw further trouble later in the decade with the European debt crisis causing governments to enact controversial austerity policies, particularly through spending cuts and value-added taxes.
[81] The centre-right underwent a decline throughout the western world in the late 2010s and early 2020s, led by demographic changes such as increased tertiary education and ethnic diversity as well as the waning influence of religion and the rise of identity politics.
