Syncretic politics

Syncretic politics, or spectral-syncretic politics combine elements from across the conventional left–right political spectrum. The idea of syncretic politics has been influenced by syncretism and syncretic religion.[1] The main idea of syncretic politics is that taking political positions of neutrality by combining elements associated with the left and right can achieve a goal of reconciliation.[2][3][4][5]

This article is about the politics outside the conventional spectrum. For other uses, see Third Way (disambiguation).
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A similar approach was taken in a 2019 study titled "Limbic Ideological Dimension: A brief description" which proposes a limbic dimension in the political spectrum in line with the right, left and centre dimensions by metaphorically relating the existing basic spectrum to the whole brain psychological approach of Ned Herrmann. The aim behind the Limbic categorisation was to combine the elements of right and left political positions.[6]

Historical examples

The Falange of Spain, while being widely considered to be far-right[7] presented itself definitively as syncretic.[8] Falangism has attacked both the left and the right as its "enemies", declaring itself to be neither left nor right, but a Third Position.[9] Despite this they allied with the nationalist right side during the Civil War.

At the peak of the Cold War, the former Argentinian President Juan Perón (1946–1955; 1973–1974) defined the international position of his doctrine (Peronism) as a "third position" between capitalism and communism, a stance which became a precedent of the Non-Aligned Movement.

In the United States, Third Way adherents embrace fiscal conservatism to a greater extent than traditional social liberals and advocate some replacement of welfare with workfare and sometimes have a stronger preference for market solutions to traditional problems (as in pollution markets) while rejecting pure laissez-faire economics and other right-libertarian positions. This style of governing was firmly adopted and partly redefined during the administration of President Bill Clinton.[10] Political scientist Stephen Skowronek introduced the term "Third Way" into the interpretation of American presidential politics.[11][12][13] Such Presidents undermine the opposition by borrowing policies from it in an effort to seize the middle and with it to achieve political dominance. This technique is known as triangulation and was used by Bill Clinton and other New Democrats who sought to move beyond the party's New Deal liberalism reputation in response to the political realignment of the 1980s. Through this strategy, Clinton adopted themes associated with the Republican Party, such as fiscal conservatism, welfare reform, deregulation and law and order policies. Famously, he declared in the 1996 State of the Union Address that "the era of big government is over".[14]

In the United Kingdom, the emergence of New Labour under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown was a pitch for the Third Way, mixing economic neoliberal policies, such as banking privatisation, with socially progressive policies.[15][16]

Other examples

See also

References
  1. "Syncretism". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 27 October 2013.
  2. Griffin, Roger (1995). Fascism (paperback). Oxford readers (second printing ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 8, 307. ISBN 978-0192892492.
  3. Kallis, Aristotle A. (2002). The Fascism Reader. Routledge. p. 71. ISBN 978-0415243599.
  4. Blamires, Cyprian (2006). World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia (hardcover) (5 ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 14, 561. ISBN 978-1576079409.
  5. Bastow, Steve; Martin, James (2003). Third Way Discourse. Edinburgh University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0748615612. However, what is often missed in many of these discussions is an awareness of the variety of ideologies of the third way that span the twentieth century and traverse the spectrum from left to right.
  6. Sharma, Vishal (2019). Limbic Ideological Dimension. Notion Press Chennai. ISBN 9781684663811.
    "Limbic Ideological Dimension", GoodReads.com
  7. Rodney P. Carlisle (general editor). The Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right, Volume 2: The Right. Thousand Oaks, California, USA; London, England, UK; New Delhi, India: Sage Publications, 2005. Pp. 633.
  8. Fernandez, Paloma Aguilar (August 2002). Memory in Amnesia: The Role of the Spanish Civil War in the Transition to Democracy (hardcover). Oxford; New York: Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1571817570.
  9. Griffin, Roger (1995). Fascism (paperback). Oxford readers (second printing ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 978-0192892492.
  10. Harris, John F. (2005). The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House. Random House.
  11. Skowronek, Stephen (1993). The Politics Presidents Make. ISBN 0-674-68937-2.
  12. Valelly, Rick (31 March 2003). "An Overlooked Theory on Presidential Politics". unm.edu. Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  13. Shea, Christopher (23 March 2003). "Regime change". boston.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  14. Sanger, David E. (29 January 2010). "Where Clinton Turned Right, Obama Plowed Ahead". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  15. "Leader: Blair's new third way". the Guardian. 2005-05-08.
  16. "BBC News — UK Politics — All aboard the Third Way". BBC News.
  17. "The Londoner: Centrists revive the ghost of SDP". Evening Standard. 10 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
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