From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

In politics, centrism or the centre is a political outlook or specific position that involves acceptance or support of a balance of a degree of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy; while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society either strongly to the left or the right.[1] Centre left and centre right politics both involve a general association with centrism combined while leaning somewhat to their respective sides of the spectrum. The term is often used interchangeably with the Third Way, a political position popularized by Bill Clinton, Tony Blair and Paul Keating in the 1990s, whereby policies favored a balanced approach and the removal of extreme ideologies.



Centrists usually support to a degree of equal opportunity and economic freedom. They can generally lean conservative on economic issues and lean liberal on social issues and sometimes vice versa.

Usage by political parties by country[edit]


The Australian Democrats is a centrist party with a social liberal ideology. South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon had launched his own centrist political party called the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) in 2014. The Palmer United Party has been suggested as being a centrist party as well however the party itself does not make such formal claims of being politically centrist.[3]






Czech Republic[edit]

Czech Republic has only one centrist political party named ANO (Yes) which was founded in 2011 and has seats in the Government of the Czech Republic.










In Greece centrism has its roots to centrist politician and founder of Agricultural and Labour Party, Alexandros Papanastasiou. In 1961 Georgios Papandreou created along with other political leaders the coalition party of Centre Union. Five parties were merged: Liberal Party, Progressive Agricultural Democratic Union, National Progressive Center Union, Popular Social Party into one, with strong centrist agenda opposed equally to right wing party of National Radical Union and left wing party of United Democratic Left. The Centre Union Party was the last Venizelist party to hold power in Greece. The party nominally continued to exist until 1977 (after the Junta it was known as the Center Union - New Forces), when its successor Union of the Democratic Centre (EDIK) party was created.

Union of Centrists was created by Vassilis Leventis in 1992 under the title "Union of Centrists and Ecologists". The name was changed shortly after. The Union of Centrists claims to be the ideological continuation of the old party Center Union. The party strives to become "the political continuance of the centrist expression in Greece". Leventis aimed to become part of the Venizelist legacy of some great politicians of the past, such as Eleftherios Venizelos and George Papandreou Sr. However, the party's total influence has been marginal, with 1.79% of the total vote (in the Greek legislative election, 2015) being its highest achievement to date.


In the Republic of Ireland, the two main political parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, both claim the political centre ground, but seem to mostly lean to the centre-right and be mostly made up of centre-right memberships.[4][4][5] The two parties have shared broadly similar policies in the past, with their primary division being perceived as being steeped in Irish Civil War politics. Fine Gael is aligned to Christian democratic parties in Europe via its membership of the European People's Party, and is described internationally as centre-right by the likes of Reuters.[6] The consensus in analysis seems to be that Fianna Fáil is mostly centrist, expanding to the centre-right space, and that Fine Gael is mostly centre-rightist, expanding also to the centre space.





New Zealand[edit]

In New Zealand, there are two main current centrist parties. One is the United Future party, founded by a fusion of a previous centrist social liberal party and a previous Christian conservative party. United Future currently has one seat in the New Zealand parliament, supporting the current Government led by the National Party alongside ACT and the Maori Party.

The other is New Zealand First, which was founded by Winston Peters, and has a mix of nationalist and populist views with a conservative social policy. It is currently in opposition with 12 seats, in the 121 seat House of Representatives.

Nordic countries[edit]



Neither the Centre Democrats (a now defunct centrist political party) nor the Liberal Alliance (a political party founded as a centrist social liberal party but that now is a classical liberal party), both of Denmark, are rooted in centrist agrarianism.


Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI) founded by Imran Khan, claims to be a centrist/centre-right political party.[8] PTI emerged as the second largest political party in Pakistan, following the general election of 2013, by number of votes.[9]

Palestinian Authority[edit]

The Third Way is a small centrist Palestinian political party active in Palestinian politics. Founded on 16 December 2005, the party is led by Salam Fayyad and Hanan Ashrawi. In the January 2006 PLC elections it received 2.41% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats. The party presents itself as an alternative to the two-party system of Hamas and Fatah.



United Kingdom[edit]

In the late 1990s, the traditionally socialist Labour Party, under the leadership of Tony Blair, began to move towards a centrist Third Way policy platform, creating the New Labour movement.


United States[edit]







Currently, centrists in the two major US political parties are often found in the New Democrat Coalition[15] and the Blue Dog Coalition of the Democratic Party and the Republican Main Street Partnership of the Republican Party.

See also[edit]


  3. ^ https://theconversation.com/populist-palmer-drops-his-jester-act-to-appeal-to-middle-australia-26919
  5. ^ Irish Poll Hits Fianna Fáil, 2nd paragraph
  7. ^ Politieke Barometer: D66 middenpartij bij uitstek.
  8. ^ http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/06/28/survey-imran-khan-most-popular-leader-of-pakistan
  9. ^ http://www.elections.com.pk/
  10. ^ DISTRIBUCIONES DE FRECUENCIA MARGINALES DEL ESTUDIO 2909 CUESTIONARIO 0 MUESTRA 0, CIS-Centro de Estudios Sociológicos (see Question number 27) (Spanish)
  11. ^ a b Jonsson, Patrik (29 July 2011). "Americans Elect launches centrist third-party bid amid Washington dysfunction". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 1 January 2012. 
  12. ^ Ekins, Emily (29 August 2011). "Reason-Rupe Poll Finds 24 Percent of Americans are Economically Conservative and Socially Liberal, 28 Percent Liberal, 28 Percent Conservative, and 20 Percent Communitarian". Reason. Retrieved 1 January 2012. 
  14. ^ "4 Types of Independent Voters Who Could Swing the 2012 Elections", Linda Killian, 2 February 2012
  15. ^ Pollard, Vic (March 15, 2007). "Pollard column: 'Mod squad' lockout has Parra steamed". The Bakersfield Californian. Retrieved July 23, 2014. 

External links[edit]