Political moderate explained

Moderate is an ideological category which designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion.^{[1] [2]} A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In American politics, a moderate is considered someone occupying a centre position on the left–right political spectrum.

Political position

Japan

Japan's right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has traditionally been divided into two main factions: the based on bureaucratic "conservative mainstream" (保守本流) and the hawkish nationalist "conservative anti-mainstream" (保守傍流). Among them, "conservative mainstream" is also considered a moderate wing within the LDP. The LDP's faction Kōchikai is considered a moderate wing.^[3] The current LDP has conflicts between moderate patriotist and extreme nationalist supporters.^[4]

The Democratic Socialist Party (DSP) was formed by a group of politicians who splintered off of the Japan Socialist Party (JSP) in 1960. The party advocated a moderate social-democratic politics and supported the U.S.-Japan Alliance.^[5] The party started to slowly support neoliberalism from the 1980s, and was disbanded in 1994.^[6]

Moderate social-democrats of the JSP formed the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with conservative-liberal Sakigake and other moderates of the LDP.^[7] Most of the DPJ's mainstream factions moved to the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDP), but the former DPJ's right-wing moved to the Democratic Party for the People after 2019.^[8]

United States

In recent years, the term political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword. The existence of the ideal moderate is disputed because of a lack of a moderate political ideology. Voters who describe themselves as centrist often mean that they are moderate in their political views, advocating neither extreme left-wing nor extreme right-wing politics.

Gallup polling indicated that American voters identified as moderate between 35–38% of the time during the 1990s and 2000s.^[9] Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological, or otherwise. It has also been suggested that individuals vote for centrist parties for purely statistical reasons.^[10]

See also

• Blairism
• Brownism
• Centrism
• Centre-left politics
• Centre-right politics
• Independent voter
• Moderate Democrats
• Moderate conservatism
• Moderate Party (disambiguation)
• Moderate Republicans (modern United States)
• New Labour
• New Democrats
• No Labels
• Radical centrism
• The Establishment

References

Notes

Bibliography

Notes and References

1. Alex P.. Schmid. 2013. Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review. Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies. The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. 4. 2. 10.19165/2013.1.02. free.
2. Encyclopedia: Types of social movements. January 10, 2020. Encyclopædia Britannica. Social movements may also be categorized on the basis of the general character of their strategy and tactics; for instance, whether they are legitimate or underground. The popular distinction between radical and moderate movements reflects this sort of categorization..
3. Karol Zakowski, ed. (2011). Kōchikai of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and Its Evolution After the Cold War . Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
4. News: Putz . Catherine . Jennifer Lind on Abe Shinzo and Japanese Nationalism . 20 November 2022 . . 1 September 2022 . 19 November 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221119235930/https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/jennifer-lind-on-abe-shinzo-and-japanese-nationalism/ . live .
5. Book: Jeffrey Kopstein . Mark Lichbach . Stephen E. Hanson= . Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order . 2014 . 192 . . 9780521135740 .
6. Book: 及川智洋 . 戦後革新勢力の対立と分裂 . 第5章 第3節 民社党－－－社会党から分裂した社民主義政党が、反共の新自由主義政党へ . 法政大学 博士論文(政治学) 32675甲第451号 . March 2019 . 法政大学 (Hosei University) . 10.15002/00021756 .
7. Book: Takashi Oka . Policy Entrepreneurship and Elections in Japan: A Political Biography of Ozawa Ichirō . 2011 . 64 . . 9781136728648 .
8. News: Spremberg . Felix . How Japan's Left is repeating its unfortunate history . 20 November 2022 . International Politics & Society Journal . 25 November 2020 . 6 May 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220506150234/https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy/how-japans-left-is-repeating-its-unfortunate-history-4819/ . live .
9. Web site: Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.. Saad. Lydia. January 12, 2012. Gallup. 20 November 2012. 13 January 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120113015255/http://www.gallup.com/poll/152021/Conservatives-Remain-Largest-Ideological-Group.aspx. live.
10. Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections. Enelow and Hinich. 1984. The Journal of Politics. 46. 2. 459–478. Southern Political Science Association. 2130970. 10.2307/2130970. 153540693 .