What is “Centrism” and how to get to it
Today three prominent articles on Centrism.
Can the GOP Find Its Center? By E. J. Dionne Jr.
“Pro-market libertarians and pro-family social conservatives are more aware than ever that their respective values and interests do not coincide.”
“>GOP must return to its centrist roots By Governor Christine Todd Whitman
“President Bush has to lead the Republican Party back toward its traditional, philosophical roots of respect for and belief in the individual, fiscal responsibility, pragmatic and realistic foreign policy, and real environmental stewardship.”
“>The Center of What? by David Sirota
“That’s really the problem with the term – and with Washington’s definition of it. “Centrismâ€? as defined in the political dialogue today means “being at in the middle of elite opinion in Washington, D.C.â€? But if you plot this “centerâ€? on the continuum that is American public opinion, you will find that it is nowhere near the actual center of the country at large. The center of elite Washington opinion is ardently free trade, against national health care, opposed to market regulation, for continuing the Iraq War, and supportive of the flattest tax structure we’ve had in contemporary American history. That center is on the extreme fringe of the center of American public opinion, which is ardently skeptical of free trade, for universal health care, supportive of strong market regulations, insistent that the war end soon, and in favor of making the tax system more progressive.”
What I mean by “Centrist” is using market forces as much as possible to promote opportunity and fairness. If market forces are ineffective then I support regulation. For instance:
Fair trade that liberates globalization while providing a sufficient safety net for American workers: Health Care, Education, Retirement security…
Barney Frank’s ideas of a grand bargain to reduce regulation in exchange for increased wages and benfits.
Expanding health care by reducing obstacles to competition and efficiency, and some government involvement to adjust risks. For instance I like the proposal for the government to indeminify the insurance companies for catastrophic costs in exchange for making basic care universally available.
An economic emphasis to foreign affairs that maximizes dialogue, market forces, rules of law and, inevitablity, civil liberties.
A simplifed tax system that eliminates most of the favors to specific industries.
I am not married to any of these specific remedies. But I do believe that the solutions in the Center are characterized by a reconciliation of the Democratic aims of nurturing society with the Conservative methods of nurturing market forces.
9 Responses to “What is “Centrism” and how to get to it”
I’m not sure I’m a Centrist, per se, I just believe that extremes are always bad. Out and out Socialism is too expensive to uphold and is governing by the lowest common denominator. But certain “socialist” programs, like a proper welfare, can be good for the country. Out and out capitalism can be corrupt and damaging to a country. But regulated capitalism can be extremely beneficial.
So, I lie in the “center” only in the belief that the outside edges hurt more than help. Take a little bit of everything and mix it up to find a proper balance between them all. That’s my world view on just about everything.
Very well said on both of these points, Paul. I’m not sure if I’d always agree with you on where the lines should be drawn, but on the basic concepts I agree: that the default position should be the free market, but we should also be aware of the shortcomings of the market and find ways for government to effectively fill in these gaps.
Ayn Rand argued that she could never be a Republican because they mixed capitalism with mysticism.
Hmm.
I’m not sure that you can ever reach the center in public policy, or even if that would be a good objective. The problem is that the center moves, sometimes radically. The center view on race relations today would have been off the charts in 1960. The same goes for women’s rights and virtually every important social issue in our history.
I’m not sure the dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats is best characterized by a tradeoff between nurturing society and nurturing market forces.
There are a whole host of non-economic issues – abortion, affirmative action, immigration reform, etc on which the two parties line up on opposite sides of the fence. Moreover, as new issues come up, the two parties will often take opposing views on them, like stem cell research.
Robert,
I was focusing on the differences between Liberals and Conservatives not Ds and Rs.
The GOP has its own internal conflicts between libertarians and social conservatives.
Nevertheless it seems to me that that are pragmatic ways to reconcile conflicting philosophies on abortion affirmative action, immigration and others. The trick is for each side not to insist on total domination.
Mikef,
But that’s the point: the center is constantly shifting but wherever it is at any given moment in history is where the best legislation is crafted. For example, I personally am as far right as you can get on the abortion issue but I’ve come to the realization that I don’t want to fight for laws that match my views right now. That isn’t where the majority of the country lives so forcing legislation that doesn’t mesh with societal views is only going to lead to more conflict and laws that will be overturned in the courts. However, I firmly believe that allowing states to put reasonable abortion restrictions on the table would reveal that most Americans don’t agree with the current status of abortion on demand. So, I’d rather that we work toward laws that reflect the true views of the people, and the center of gravity on the abortion issue isn’t necessarily where I reside but it also isn’t where Planned Parenthood resides.
Didn’t I basically say all this stuff about the views of the majority of Americans the other day?
I can’t draw very well. But I can picture things in my head quite well. Often they’d qualify as editorial cartoons. When I saw the title of Dionne’s column I realized what he apparently doesn’t. They’ve found their center. It’s just that they don’t want to do with it what Dionne thinks they should do. The picture?
Elephant in costume. Elmer Fudd’s hunting outfit to be precise. Complete with gun. Caption: “Be vewy, vewy quiet. We’re hunting centwists.”.