This article examined the political ideas from the perspectives of the major ideological tradition. There are various political parties involved in the government. They have their own ideology and faith fighting for the biggest interest of citizens. Different types of political parties have different means to gain the power of the country. Actually, there are two direction of ideologies for political parties to follow, one is the “Left” and the other is the “Right”. But where does it come from? How political scientists define “left” and “right”? It will be clearly defined in part one. People always hear these two extreme words when it is discussing about the political party in the United States. But not many people know clear about what positions of those parties in that country. In the second part, it will be drawing one political party in the United States and discuss where its position in the left-right political spectrum.
To begin with the “left” and “right” as the two-extreme direction of ideologies which links political theory political practice. Bienfait & Van Beek (2014) wrote that in the Salle des Menus-Plaisir’s at Versailles, where Louis XVI had called up a meeting of the Estates-General, the political left and right were born in 1789. When it comes to the historical tradition of “left” and “right”, there are separated in two group of members in the assembly. The inferior is sitting in the left while the right is the estates of clergy and nobility. Those on the left support the revolution and those on the right support the monarchy. Although these are only referred to the seat arrangement which is physical related in contemporary American politics originally of 18th-century legislators in France, the two group of people have sharply diverged into two main ideological profiles (Biddle, 2018).
During at that time, the classical left and right bring a new scope: the notions of “accept” and “question” occurring in the order of society (Bienfait & Van Beek, 2014). The “left” is represented the transformation which is changing the contemporary constitution and challenging the abolishment. Moreover, they always innovate the new idea to revamp the old political system. And the “right” is represented the conservation which is particularly preserving the traditions.
However, the “left” and “right” are generally accustomed indicate the basic political choices. Nowadays it is particular explained in the democratic process as people are evoked and used by political actors (White, 2011). Bienfait & Van Beek (2014) also defined that in the pace with expanding social and intimately liking with local connection: the left and right cannot be defined in the single base, still “left versus right” keep the most important political antipode in western democratic policy.
Apart from defining the “left” and “right”, there is a specific tool to measure the position of the political party. The left- right political spectrum is a linear political spectrum that abstract different stances to the role of the state and the economic dimension. It shows the political identity, a tendency that reflecting a broad political orientation. The “left” supports the collectivism and intervention and the “right” favors individualism and market.
Since the conventional approach is uncertain to point out the exact nature of either side, it just sites the neoliberalism, socialism and communism to the left whereas the capitalism, feminism and conservatism put on the right. For instance, the leaders on the hard-left guarantee to a complete controlled economy e.g. Mao Zedong, Pol Pot and Stalin. Socialists would involve a less extreme leftist position like Robert Mugabe and Mahatma Gandhi. General Pinochet would stand on the extreme right as he likes the ultimate free market, Margaret Thatcher would be less right than him (The Political Compass, 2018).
Democratic party is one of the biggest political party in the United States. It is generally considered in the liberalism which is the main ideology of the western democracies after the decline of feudalism and the boost of a capitalist or market society. From late 19th Century until now, it becomes to social liberalism which involved in the welfare reform and the economic intervention. It turns to focus on the state more than the individual. The modern democratic party hold a distinctive posture. Some people define democrats as "the Party of the People" attracting minorities, women, blue-collar workers and immigrants. They will more likely to take the more liberal attitude on crucial issues.
After a dominant alteration in the 20th century, nowadays democrats are well-known for their association with a strong back up and control of federal government, support for minority and women’s rights, trade promotion and progressive reforms.
In recent decades, liberalism has been under political siege in the United States. The Democratic party normally playing a vital government role in backing regulations, social welfare programs and the economic issues in US (Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). Give an example of the notable democrats, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was the only president (1933–45) to be elected to the White House four times. He made a great contribution and led the United states through the two serious crisis of the 20th century: the Great Depression and the World War II, he start to enlarge the power of the federal government through a series of programs and reforms known as the New Deal, and he regarded as the principal architect of successful effort to rid the world of German National Socialism and Japanese militarism (Freidel, 2018). As we can see, he has changed the government through the reformation. Undoubtedly, the democratic party is the side of political left.
Furthermore, the democratic party influences the economy’s direction and keep motivate the businesses’ profit since relied more heavily on government intervention. Besides, democrats favour a progressive tax to finance the expanded role of government. The higher regulation requires a greater cost that gaining the supports by high taxation form public. This is why the democratic party’s approach often portrayed as “tax and spend” (Fuhrmann, 2018). During economic recession, Democratic party tend to believe that it is necessary implement the deficit spending in order to help stimulate the economy until the improvement of private business prospects. Furthermore, they hope to enhance and extend welfare programs to help citizens that is unemployment or need more help due to the rise of challenging economic conditions. According to the above information, it showed that the democratic party are trying to provide the comprehensive social welfare to the needy. This had increased the role of government in the economic which means more state control in the United States by intervention. They believe that the federal government should take a more active role in people's lives, particularly those who are in need.) The democratic party in the economic aspect stance towards the political left.
In addition, the democratic party prefer multilateralism than unilateralism. On the social issues, democrats pursue the greater freedom and they would like to engage more international conferences treaties and trade. Give an example of the well-known democrats, Barack Obama , the 44th president of the United States (2009–17) and the first African American to hold the office. He belongs to the democratic party and improve the relationship with other countries by adopting the internationalism. Wallenfeldt & Mendell found that (2018) Obama has laid out his vision for a trade policy that creates economic growth, supports American jobs and strengthens the middle class. He emphasizes that we have engaged with other countries- bilaterally, regionally, and multilaterally – to strength our trade and investment partnerships and unlock opportunity for American workers and industry. Also, we have negotiated and concluded high-standard trade agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to expand the export of “Made-in-America” goods and help make the U.S. economy the world’s production platform of choice. Hence, we can know Obama led the democratic party on the left in the spectrum as he espouses the ideology of internationalism which advanced the balance state and the market in the trade policy.
Hillary Clinton is one of the most influential women in the modern politics of the United states with the side of democratic party. Chozick has reported (2018) that Hillary has paved a way of self-reliance and authorization for women before she became a Secretary of State and announced her second times for the election of the President of the United States. She came to accept a more astute embrace of how she talked about her gender when she stated that “women’s rights are human rights” in Beijing in 1995. This is how she start to concern more about the women rights and trying to ignite a feminist movement in the United States. After she lose in the 45th president election in 2016, a fervor has swept the country. It is believed that losing in the election does not mean the end of the influential. As people are arousing women’s processions, an outburst about sexual assault at all levels of society and a record number of female candidates running for office. As we seen that the democratic party is also purchasing the women rights nowadays, spreading the idea of the equal right from the United States to all over the world. Obviously, democratic party position on the left due to fighting for the rights in the United States.
According to the above information and the detailed analysis on the “left” and the “right” in politics, we can know more about the definition and history of both main political directions. The left is about the reformation and the right is for preservation. Apart from the basic knowledge of political left and right, the Democratic party of the United States illustrated by a few examples of renowned democrats to distinguish its position in political spectrum. Through the example of Franklin, Obama and Hillary, they are following the ideologies of liberalism and socialism. They seek for the freedom, the reforms, the rights and internationalism which trying to change the contemporary political situation. What more is they all support the intervention of the federal government and collectivism. In the conclusion, the Democratic party is belonging to the left but does not reach to the extreme left e.g. totalitarian. They are just stand between the liberalism and communism in the political spectrum.
References
Biddle, C. (2018, April 9). Political “Left” and “Right” Properly Defined – The Objective Standard. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.theobjectivestandard.com/2012/06/political-left-and-right-properly-defined/
Bienfait, F., & Van Beek, W. (2014). Political Left and Right: Our Hands-On Logic. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 2(1), 335–346. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v2i1.323
Chozick, A. (2018, January 13). Hillary Clinton Ignited a Feminist Movement. By Losing. The New York Times, p. SR1 of the New York edition with the headline. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/sunday-review/hillary-clinton-feminist-movement.html
Freidel, F. (2018, October 12). Franklin D. Roosevelt | Biography, Presidency, & Facts. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franklin-D-Roosevelt
Fuhrmann, R. (2018, October 17). Republican and Democratic Approaches to Regulating the Economy. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/regulating-economy.asp
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2018, November 5). Democratic Party | History, Definition, & Beliefs. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Democratic-Party
The Political Compass. (2018, February 11). The Political Compass. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2?ec=-0.13
Wallenfeldt, J., & Mendell, D. (2018, November 6). Barack Obama | Biography, Presidency, & Facts. Retrieved November 22, 2018, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Barack-Obama
White, J. (2011). Left and Right as political resources. Journal of Political Ideologies, 16(2), 123–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569317.2011.575681