Moderate
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Look up moderate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical.[1] In recent years, "political moderates" has gained traction as a buzzword.
The existence of the ideal moderate is disputed because of a lack of a moderate political ideology. Many people claim to be moderate because of a lack of adherence with the more radical sides of the political or religious spectrum, rather than advocating a specific stance.
Aristotle favoured conciliatory politics dominated by the centre rather than the extremes of great wealth and poverty or the special interests of oligarchs and tyrants.[2]
[edit] As a political position
Voters who describe themselves as centrist often mean that they are moderate in their political views, advocating neither extreme left-wing politics nor right-wing politics. Gallup polling has shown American voters identifying themselves as moderate between 35–38% of the time over the last 20 years.[3] Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological or otherwise. It has even been suggested that individuals vote for ‘centrist’ parties for purely statistical reasons.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, http://dictionary.oed.com
- ^ Aristotle, Sir Ernest Barker, R. F. Stalley (1998), Politics, Oxford University Press, p. xxv, ISBN 978-0-19-283393-8, http://books.google.com/?id=QWsJDMvIV7sC&pg=PR26
- ^ Saad, Lydia (January 12, 2012). "Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.". Gallup. http://www.gallup.com/poll/152021/Conservatives-Remain-Largest-Ideological-Group.aspx. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- ^ Enelow and Hinich (1984). "Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections". The Journal of Politics. Southern Political Science Association. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2130970. Retrieved 20 November 2012.
- Calhoon, Robert McCluer (2008), Ideology and social psychology: extremism, moderation, and contradiction, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-73416-5
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