Right-wing politics

"Right wing" redirects here. For the term used in sports, see winger (sport).

In politics, right-wing, the political right, and the Right are positions that seek to uphold or return to traditional authorities and/or the liberties of a civil society. Its concern is often to preserve the domestic culture usually in the face of external forces for change. Due to its link to tradition, the right has been associated with the church, business and law and order. Although right-wing ideas are associated with a return to the way of the past, some factions of the right acknowledge that an idealized past cannot be brought back and thus they may realize their values for an idealized future.

The right tends to believe in social equity rather than social equality. The right generally regards most social inequality as the result of ineradicable natural inequalities, and sees attempts to enforce social equality as utopian or authoritarian. Ideologies considered part of the right include Conservatism, Neoconservatism, Neoliberalism, Laissez-faire, Right-Libertarianism, Objectivism, Reactionism, Monarchism, Aristocracy and, to some extent, Fascism and Nazism.

It should be noted that groups that associate themselves as right-wing can oppose each other's positions. For instance, Venstre (Denmark), Conservative Party (UK), Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Netherlands), and Kuomintang (Taiwan) are all major right-wing parties with varying positions.

History

The term originates from the French Revolution, when liberal deputies from the Third Estate generally sat to the left of the president's chair, a habit which began in the Estates General of 1789. The nobility, members of the Second Estate, generally sat to the right. In the successive legislative assemblies, monarchists who supported the Ancien Régime were commonly referred to as rightists because they sat on the right side. It is still the tradition in the French National Assembly for the representatives to be seated left-to-right (relative to the Assembly president) according to their political alignment.

As this original reference became obsolete, the meaning of the term has changed as appropriate to the spectrum of ideas and stances being compared, and the point of view of the speaker. For example, by the late 19th century, the French political spectrum tended to be perceived as being composed of the far left (Socialists and Radicals), the center-left (Liberal Republicans), the center (Moderate and Conservative Republicans), the center-right (Constitutional Monarchists, Orleanists, and Bonapartists), and the far right (Ultra-Royalists and Legitimists). See political spectrum and left-right politics for further discussion of this kind of classification.

As new social issues arose, right wing views continued to be concerned with keeping "traditional" values (often religious values), which has more recently been expressed, for example, as emphasis on the preservation of individual and corporate rights through constraints on government power. The values and policy concerns of the right vary in different countries and eras. Also, individual right wing politicians and thinkers often have individual priorities. There are no universally accepted objective criteria to determine which of two sets of beliefs or policies is more right-wing. (See political spectrum)

Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, one of the earliest attempts to study the rise of industry and commercial development in Europe, was a precursor to the modern academic discipline of economics. In this and other works, Smith is expounded how rational self-interest and competition can lead to economic prosperity and well-being. It also provided one of the best-known intellectual rationales for free trade and capitalism, greatly influencing the writings of later economists. Smith was ranked #30 in Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history, and he is known as the father of modern economics.

In nineteenth century Britain, laissez-faire capitalism found a small but strong following by such Manchester Liberals as Richard Cobden and Richard Wright. In 1867, this resulted in a free trade treaty being signed between Britain and France, after which several of these treaties were signed among other European countries. The newspaper The Economist was founded, partly in opposition to the Corn Laws, in 1843, and free trade was discussed in such places as The Cobden Club, founded a year after the death of Richard Cobden, in 1866.

However, Austrian scholars consider that laissez-faire was never the main doctrine of any nation, and at the end of the eighteen-hundreds, European countries would find themselves taking up economic protectionism and interventionism again.

Objectivism is a philosophy developed by Ayn Rand in the 20th century. Objectivism holds that reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness through acting in one's "rational self-interest"; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure, consensual laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that one can comprehend and respond to.

Contemporary usage

Main article: Left-Right politics

Strands of right wing thought come in many forms, and individuals who support some of the objectives of one of the above stands will not necessarily support all of the others. At the practical political policy level there are endless variations in the means that right wing thinkers advocate to achieve their basic aims.

In recent times, the term almost always includes some forms of conservatism. Some consider the political Right to include those forms of liberalism that emphasize the free market more than egalitarianism in wealth, but some free-market advocates, including some libertarians such as left libertarians, conceive of a two-dimensional political spectrum that they say more accurately portrays their political position. (See Nolan chart, Pournelle Chart, Political Compass). Many anarchists (including libertarian socialists) also avoid placing themselves on the classic political spectrum despite being on the far left.

In countries like Japan, United States, United Kingdom, and Denmark, capitalism is supported by most major politicians and most people from both the left and right. For instance, in Japan both the right-wing and the left-wing agree on small government policies.

In some countries, the most notable distinction between left and right is in economic policy. The right advances policies such as property rights, free markets, and free trade. The left advocates equality and, in extreme cases, far left ideologies such as socialism (including democratic socialism) or communism.

At the other extreme within what is usually considered right of centre, the centre-right Gaullists in post-World War II France advocated considerable social spending on education and infrastructure development, as well as extensive economic regulation and even a limited amount of the wealth redistribution measures more characteristic of social democracy.

As noted above, the political use of the terms "left" and "right" has evolved across linguistic, societal, and national boundaries, sometimes taking on meanings in one time and place that contrast sharply with those in another.

Two prominent political ideologies, very different from one another, are widely considered "right-wing", but in each case, for different reasons, the classification is controversial.

Libertarianism has focused on the preservation of individual and corporate rights through constraints on government power, while not necessarily favoring "traditional" values.

Some on the right reject the rights-based assumptions of this philosophy. Conversely some libertarians do not consider themselves to be right wing and reject the traditional one-dimensional political spectrum, preferring to think in terms of liberty vs. authority rather than socialism vs. capitalism.

Some associate ethno-nationalism, anti-elitist, populist groups with the right. Others associate them as left-wing because such groups advocate strong state and loss of individual rights in favor of some collective group. Soviet Union moved people based on their ethnicity, for example, it forced jews to the single-ethnicity Jewish Autonomous Oblast. According to most scholars of fascism, there are both left and right influences on fascism as a social movement, and facism has historically attacked communism, conservatism and parliamentary liberalism. The Italian Facist party was originally founded by prominent socialist figures and attracted support from trade unions and labor movement. Since the end of World War II, many fascist movements have become more monolithically right-wing, and became intertwined with the radical right.

Foreign policy positions

Germany

Angela Merkel's first foreign trip took place on the day she was sworn in as Chancellor, and went to Paris for a meeting with the then French president, Jacques Chirac. In his speech, Chirac emphasized the importance of the Franco-German Companionship for Europe. After the meeting with Chirac, she travelled to Brussels for talks with EU leaders and the Secretary-General of NATO, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. She then traveled to London where she met with the then British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. On November 28 she received her first state guest: President Pohamba of Namibia, a former colony of Germany. In her first government address on 30 November, 2005 she announced her objective of improving the German Economy and reducing unemployment.

Merkel made her first visit to the Middle East as President-in-office of the European Council on 1 April 2007. She offered Europe's help to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table, and tried to restart international efforts for renewed peace talks.

On September 25, 2007, Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama for "private and informal talks" in Berlin in the Chancellery amid protest from China. China afterwards cancelled separate talks with German officials, including talks with Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries.

Republic of China

In the Republic of China, the right-wing Pan-Blue Coalition generally seeks warmer relations with the socialist People's Republic of China.

Japan

In Japan, the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party - which has won most elections for half a century - has pursued warm relations with most countries. Recently Japan has sent peacekeepers to overseas missions.

United States

One strains belives in merits of isolationism. This strain thinks wars are illegal and unconstitutional in nature, and they are generally cautious about military action or sanctions against foreign entities. Many of these conservatives believe that the U.S. should be neutral in most or all situations. They generally support free trade with all countries.

Another strain believes that democratic countries should actively promote democracy elsewhere. The strain believes, that if necessary, the U.S. should intervene in countries experiencing genocide, dictatorship, or dangerous regimes. Examples of interventions include Kosovo genocide and Afghanistan's Taliban regime.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, the Conservative Party has continued to back the Iraq war, but has accused former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair of lying about the reasons for going to war.

The Conservatives have proposed Pan-African Free Trade Area, which could help entrepreneurial dynamism of African people. The Conservatives have also pledged to increase aid spending to 0.7% of national income by 2013.

Domestic policy positions

Estonia

The right-wing Reform Party's agenda includes

• Low flat taxes.
• It wants to end conscription and to introduce a voluntary army.

France

The largest party in France, the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement - and particularly Nicolas Sarkozy - has pledged to reform the French system, get rid of the old special interests, and make France more competitive.

Iceland

Milton Friedman visited Iceland in the autumn of 1984, met with prominent Icelanders and gave a lecture at the University of Iceland on the Tyranny of the Status Quo. He participated in a lively television debate on August 31, 1984 with leading socialist intellectuals, including President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson. When they complained that a fee was charged for attending his lecture at the University and that hitherto, lectures by visiting scholars had been free-of-charge, Friedman replied that previous lectures had not been free-of-charge in a meaningful sense: Lectures always have related costs. What mattered was whether attendees or non-attendees covered those costs. Friedman thought that it was fairer that only those who attended paid.

Friedman made a great impact on a group of young intellectuals in the Independence Party, including Davíð Oddsson who became Prime Minister in 1991 and began a radical program of monetary and fiscal stabilization, privatization, tax rate reduction (e.g., lowering the corporate income tax rate from 45% to 18%), definition of exclusive use rights in fisheries, abolition of various government funds for aiding unprofitable enterprises and liberalization of currency transfers and capital markets.

In 1975, Iceland had the 53rd freest economy in the world, while in 2004, it had the 9th freest economy, according to the Economic Freedom of the World index designed by Canada’s Fraser Institute. According to the index designed by the Heritage Foundation, Iceland as of 2008 has the 5th freest economy in the world. Davíð Oddsson was Prime Minister for thirteen and a half years, to 2004. The present Prime Minister, Geir H. Haarde supports similar policies.

Japan

Junichiro Koizumi, a leader of the right-wing Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) who won the largest party majority ever in modern Japanese history.

The Japan's right-wing Liberal Democratic Party - which has won most elections for half a century - traditionally identified itself with a number of general goals: rapid, export-based economic growth; close cooperation with the United States in foreign and defense policies; and several newer issues, such as administrative reform. Administrative reform encompassed several themes: simplification and streamlining of government bureaucracy; privatization of stateowned enterprises; and adoption of measures, including tax reform, needed to prepare for the strain on the economy posed by an aging society.

Other priorities in the early 1990s included promoting a more active and positive role for Japan in the rapidly developing Asia-Pacific region, internationalizing Japan's economy by liberalizing and promoting domestic demand, creating a hightechnology information society, and promoting scientific research. A business-inspired commitment to free enterprise was tempered by the insistence of important small business and agricultural constituencies on some form of protectionism and subsidies.

Netherlands

In Netherlands, the right-wing People's Party for Freedom and Democracy is a major proponent of

• Euthanasia
• Welfare state policies such as taxpayer-paid daycare for working people.
• Reform of the welfare state and lower taxes in order to increase economic growth.
• Permissive cannabis policy

United States

In the United States, Christian support for the right has led to the term Christian Right. American social conservatives emphasize traditional views of social units such as the family, church, or locale. Social conservatives would typically define culture in terms of local histories and tastes. To the Protestant or Catholic, social conservatism may entail support for defining marriage as between a man and a woman (thereby banning gay marriage) and for laws placing restrictions on abortion, the also define/defend these stands as 'moral values'.

In America, the right is associated with minimal government and sometimes with law and order. It tends to support individualist human rights, free markets, and property rights. It tends to emphasize economic freedom while progressives tend to emphasize social justice.

Some American social conservatives want to use federal power to block state actions they disapprove of. Thus, in the 21st century there came support for the "No Child Left Behind" program, for a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, for federal laws overruling states that attempt to legalize marijuana or assisted suicide. The willingness to use federal power to intervene in state affairs is the negation of the old state's rights position. Anti-intellectualism has sometimes been a component of American social conservatism. From the 1920s onward, many rightists have lead the battles against Darwinism and evolution.

However, American Libertarian conservatives like Barry Goldwater have been strong opponents of mixing religion with government.

Ukraine

The Orange revolution was a series of events in Ukraine. As a result, the right-wing Viktor Yushchenko became the president.

It led to closer ties with the West and Ukraine aspires to become an EU member.

See also

• Left-Right politics
• Left-wing politics
• Libertarianism
• Nolan chart
• Political compass
• Political spectrum
• World's Smallest Political Quiz

References

• Berlet, Chip and Matthew N. Lyons. 2000. Right-Wing Populism in America: Too Close for Comfort. New York: Guilford Press.
• Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads to Dominion: Right–Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York: Guilford.
• Easton, Nina J. 2000. Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Crusade. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Eatwell, Roger. 1996. Fascism: A History. New York: Allen Lane.
• Fritzsche, Peter. 1990. Rehearsals for Fascism: Populism and Political Mobilization in Weimar Germany. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-505780-5
• Griffin, Roger. 2000. "Revolution from the Right: Fascism," chapter in David Parker (ed.) Revolutions and the Revolutionary Tradition in the West 1560-1991, Routledge, London.
• Griffin, Roger. 1991. The Nature of Fascism. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
• Himmelstein, Jerome L. 1990. To The Right: The Transformation of American Conservatism. Berkeley: University of California Press.
• Laclau, Ernesto. 1977. Politics and Ideology in Marxist Theory: Capitalism, Fascism, Populism. London: NLB/Atlantic Highlands Humanities Press.
• Laqueur, Walter. 1966. Fascism: Past, Present, Future, New York: Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
• Payne, Stanley G. 1995. A History of Fascism, 1914-45. Madison, Wisc.: University of Wisconsin Press ISBN 0-299-14874-2
• Paxon, Robert 2004. Anatomy of Fascism, Vintage, ISBN-13 978-1400033911
• Reich, Wilhelm. 1970. The Mass Psychology of Fascism. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux.
• Weber, Eugen. [1964] 1982. Varieties of Fascism: Doctrines of Revolution in the Twentieth Century, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, (Contains chapters on fascist movements in different countries.)

External links

• The Political Compass, a two-dimensional political chart
• The Nolan Charts, other alternative political spectra (mostly libertarian-oriented).
• publiceye.org - A leftist organization's perspective on the right.
• The Political Compass and Why Libertarianism is Not Right Wing by J. C. Lester
• Putting the Far Right into Perspective - Public Good Project
• Chronicle of Bias, a site that attacks media bias towards the left and advances the right's views
• Right Wing Squadron, Conservative politics, views and opinions