Political moderate

Moderate is an ideological category that designates a rejection of radical or extreme views, especially in regard to politics and religion. In American politics, "moderate" is an ideological category which entails centrist views on a liberal–conservative spectrum.

Political position

Japan

Japan's right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has traditionally been divided into two main factions: the 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 former faction Kōchikai is considered a moderate wing. The current LDP has conflicts between moderate patriotist and extreme nationalist supporters.

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. The party started to slowly support neoliberalism from the 1980s, and was disbanded in 1994.

Moderate social democrats of the JSP formed the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with conservative-liberal Sakigake and other moderates of the LDP. 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.

United States

Gallup polling indicates that American voters identified as moderate between 35 and 38% of the time during the 1990s and 2000s. Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological, or otherwise; however, the number of people that vote for centrist political parties is a statistical anomaly, in part due to the entrenched nature of the country's two-party system.

Scholars have debated to what extent moderate political views result in greater electability. According to a 2020 study, moderates have historically performed better in American elections. However, the study finds, "this gap has disappeared in recent years, where moderates and ideologically extreme candidates are equally likely to be elected."

According to a 2026 study, "across a wide range of issues, most Americans appear to have moderate preferences over policy. As expected, Democrats tend to be more liberal than Republicans, but there is significant overlap on every issue, and the average extent of disagreement is modest."

See also

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Schmid, Alex P. (2013). "Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review". Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies. 4 (2). The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism. doi:10.19165/2013.1.02.
  2. ↑ "Types of social movements". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved January 10, 2020. 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. ↑ Fowler, Anthony; Hill, Seth J.; Lewis, Jeffrey B.; Tausanovitch, Chris; Vavreck, Lynn; Warshaw, Christopher (2023). "Moderates". American Political Science Review. 117 (2): 643–660. doi:10.1017/S0003055422000818. ISSN 0003-0554.
  4. ↑ Broockman, David E.; Lauderdale, Benjamin E. (2025). ""Moderates"". American Political Science Review: 1–10. doi:10.1017/S0003055424001333. ISSN 0003-0554.
  5. ↑ Karol Zakowski, ed. (2011). Kōchikai of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and Its Evolution After the Cold War Archived 2022-11-19 at the Wayback Machine. Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.
  6. ↑ Putz, Catherine (1 September 2022). "Jennifer Lind on Abe Shinzo and Japanese Nationalism". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 19 November 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  7. ↑ Jeffrey Kopstein; Mark Lichbach; Stephen E. Hanson=, eds. (2014). Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order. Cambridge University Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780521135740.
  8. ↑ 及川智洋 (March 2019). "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". 戦後革新勢力の対立と分裂. 法政大学 博士論文(政治学) 32675甲第451号. 法政大学 (Hosei University). doi:10.15002/00021756.
  9. ↑ Takashi Oka, ed. (2011). Policy Entrepreneurship and Elections in Japan: A Political Biography of Ozawa Ichirō. Taylor & Francis. p. 64. ISBN 9781136728648.
  10. ↑ Spremberg, Felix (25 November 2020). "How Japan's Left is repeating its unfortunate history". International Politics & Society Journal. Archived from the original on 6 May 2022. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  11. ↑ Saad, Lydia (January 12, 2012). "Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S." Gallup. Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
  12. ↑ Enelow and Hinich (1984). "Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections". The Journal of Politics. 46 (2). Southern Political Science Association: 459–478. doi:10.2307/2130970. JSTOR 2130970. S2CID 153540693.
  13. ↑ Utych, Stephen M. (2020). "Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More Electable than Ideologues?". The Journal of Politics. 82 (1): 392–396. doi:10.1086/706054. ISSN 0022-3816.
  14. ↑ Fowler, Anthony (2026). "Reassessing Extremism, Polarization, and Constraint with Continuous Policy Questions". Political Behavior. doi:10.1007/s11109-025-10111-w. ISSN 1573-6687.

Bibliography