In politics,centrism or thecentre 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.
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Look, I don’t see the world as something divided betweenright andleft. And I don’t at all care who’s on the right or left or in the center. Even though we use them, even though I use them myself, these expressions have lost all meaning. I’m not interested in one label or the other—I’m only interested in solving certain problems, in getting where I want to go. I have certain objectives.
Indira Gandhi, quoted byOriana Fallaci. (2011). Interview with Indira Gandhi, in : Interviews with history and conversations with power. New York: Rizzoli.
What we have to realize is that what was on the line here was my position of a strong national defense, my position of peace with honor inVietnam, my position of opposing, for example, busing forracial balance, my position against permissiveness, amnesty being part of that, against legalizingmarijuana, being part of that. All of these things were involved. Now, having said this, however, this does not mean that my position is over on the far right. Basically it means my position is simply in the center. In the field offoreign policy, I think most people would describe my position as being that of a centrist. In domestic policy, if you look at the Nixon proposals in the first four years—and I can assure you that when you look at them over the next four years, this will be known as an Administration which advocated—and if we get proper support in theCongress after the election, was able to accomplish—more significant reform than any administration sinceFranklin Roosevelt's in 1932; but reform in a different direction.Roosevelt's reforms led to bigger and bigger power inWashington. It was perhaps needed then. The country's problems were so massive they couldn't be handled otherwise. The reforms that we are instituting are ones which will diffuse the power throughout the country and which will makegovernment leaner, but in a sense will make it stronger. After all, fat government is weak, weak in handling the problems.
Richard Nixon, November 5, 1972, as quoted inHistoric Documents of 1972. Washington, DC: CQ Press.
Voters for decades were conned into thinking they were noisomeminorities whose best path to influence is to make peace with the mightier "center," which inevitably turns out to support military interventionism, fewertaxes for the rich, corporate deregulation and a ban on unrealistic "giveaway" proposals like freehigher education. Those are the realistic, moderate, popular ideas, we're told.
But it's aWizard of Oz trick, just likeAmerican politics in general. There is no numerically massive center behind the curtain. What there is instead is a tiny island of wealthy donors, surrounded by a protective ring of for-sale major-party politicians (read: employees) whose job it is to castigate too-demanding voters and preach realism.
Adam Tooze,Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World Economy (2021)
I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that theNegro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not theWhite Citizen's Counciler or theKu Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than tojustice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positivepeace which is the presence ofjustice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man'sfreedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Centrism is of vital importance today because theglobal economy is ina terrible meltdown — perhaps worse than any cyclical slump since theGreat Depression of the 1930s. Alas, manytextbooks have strayed too far toward over-complacentlibertarianism. They joined the celebration offree-market finance and supported dismantlingregulations and abolishing oversight. The bitter harvest of this celebration was seen in the irrationally exuberant housing and stock markets that collapsed and led to the current financial crisis. The centrism we describe is not a prescription that is intended to persuade readers away from their beliefs. We are analysts and not cult prescribers. It is not ideology that breeds centrism as our theme. We sift facts and theories to determine the consequences ofHayek-Friedmanlibertarianism orMarx-Lenin bureaucraticcommunism. All readers are free to make up their own minds about best ethics and value judgments. … The follies of the left and right both mandate centrism. Tightly controlled central planning, which was widely advocated in the middle decades ofthe last century, was abandoned after it produced stagnation and unhappyconsumers in communist countries. … Only by steering our societies back to the limited center can we ensure that the global economy returns to full employment where the fruits of progress are more equally shared.
Paul A. Samuelson, "A Centrist Proclamation" (February 2009), in Paul A. Samuelson and William D. Nordhaus,Economics (19th ed., 2010)
