Is the left right political spectrum still applicable
YES is short answer .
Long answer is
Yes with these explainations
You have to explain or know what your plotting on the spectrum
The spectrum remains true for all the main ideologies but not the same for those that change like people or political parties . For the most part Political parties were easily plotted up untill WWI or WWII but since then especially with the onset of neo liberalism from 1979 weve got parties that do a mixture of policiys making them hardere to plot . All politcal parties in NZ and the main 2 and libertarian parties are just capitalist liberal parties - they are arguing about the size of govt intervention to make capitalism work.As a consequence they use all manor of policies . The more left politcal parties used to tax and/or borrow and spend and regulate. While more right wing liberal parties used reduce govt and practice austerity.
Look at NZ the social democrat party NZ Labour brought in neo liberalism in 1984, it later refused to sign the declaration on indigenous rights under Helen Clark leaders who also lowered corporate tax rate 2% and had a 50,000 immigration policy . The next govt National (formed from liberal party and the reform party) sold state assets and reduced workers rights but also increased immigration by double on average . increased the government debt and spent . Our most right wing party a neo liberal party was formed from that disasterous 1984 labour party.
They do what they need to to make the emoney economy function to provide jobs and get voted back in. This has blurred the lines on the righ side of the spectrum.
Meanwhile poor USA has 2 right wing liberal parties on economics that favour big business and oligarchs and only differ on social issues like human rights.
Lets dive into it;
The political spectrum arose from the French revolution after ending the French monarchy , taking earlier philosophers ideas like François-Noël Babeuf (communist) John Locke (liberal) or Edmund Burke & Joseph de Maistre (conservatives) and putting them into practice.
In the new national assembly of the people during the French Revolution 1789 the radical progressives of the socialists and liberals sat on the left and the conservatives who were trying to protect (conserve) the monarchy and the existing system sat on the right. Originally they were seating positions but now refer to ideology.
It described government style and human rights /social issues and somewhat economic issues. But as liberalism became dominant and capitalist economic system became established, the status quo, liberalism moved to the right, and economics become as (and more in my opinion ) integral to politics than social issues. Theres no social freedom without economic freedom.
The radicals became the utopian socialists and later Karl Marx rebutted utopian socialism and espoused communism which coincided with the rise of anarchism . Anarchism while in conflict with Marxism on implementation is still considered communism as most definitions of anarchism fit Marxs description of communism, of not class, no state and no money. They were both in the 1st international until most anarchists left over disagreements.
The workers and socialists in late 1800s formed socialist parties like the Germanys SPD, Spains PSOE and the Labour Partys of Britain , NZ and Australia were called either democratic socialists or social democrats . When they mostly voted for war in WWI it was the end of their socialism in politics and a slow march to supporting capitalism with reforms instead of opposing it . And by WWII there was no left wing social democrat party's left.
When Classic liberalism faltered and failed in the great depression , after WWII some liberals moved left and introduced modern aka social liberalism to help society by using government to create equal opportunity and reduce privilege . They still believed in meritocracy and unequal outcome. After the 1970s oil crises faulted capitalism again the neo liberals came to power and moved liberalism back further right. Neo liberals were classic liberals with government market intervention especially with monetary policys to make the failing free market work as advocated by Milton Friedman.
This recent USA orientated single axis spectrum frequently shown describes government style and social issues but not economics.
Once you add economics everything from social democracy moves right . Social democracy becomes center right/right and liberals/liberalism in all its variations move further to right. There isnt an accurate spectrum drawn for it but it would be something like this . (this from a video explaining socialism) fascism and liberalism is under capitalism.
As you go from left to right
- you resistst change more
- you believe human nature is worse
- society gets more authoritarian (both privately and government combined)
- freedom gets less - it declines from positive freedom to negative freedom to Dictatorships
- you believe in larger/taller hierarchy’s
- you go from international to national to super national
- in general the state gets bigger as you move right think ; socialism -> liberalism -> conservatism/fascism
(note it applies to liberalism in general but not specifically to social democracy v modern liberalism v neo liberalism which decrease govt size as you move right but they are all capitalist so im lumping them together - one further point try and leave a liberal capitalist state and you will find it very very authoritarian)
- generally socialism and left is collectivism and liberal capitalism on the right is individualism (except fascism is state over capitalism see below)
It should look more like this
This covers ideology
But what about governments in practicality .While it covers the liberty v authoritarianism of the total system , it doesnt cover size of government and its authoritarianism v liberty of just the government post WWI in practicality with Russian revolution, Maoism and Hitler v communism or liberalism, for that you need a 2nd axis graph.- In practice states that try to bring in socialism have been attacked by liberal capitalists especially USA so have remained authoritarian in order to defend themselves and survive)
Something like this.
I will find a better graph and post it but in the meantime , this was drawn by a right winger capitalist supporter probably an anarcho capitalist (orange circle) an ideology that is an oxymoron and couldnt exist in reality. But heres the errors ;
Statist communist doesnt exist and is an oxymoron as communism is anti state . I would say the same about despotic socialism given socialism meaning today of "the common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange", any socialism like democratic socialism that has a state it would have to be democratic as democracy and freedom is the main aim of socialism.. Social reformist is probably the modern social democrat which I call the neo democrats to distinguish them from pre WWI ones and are drawn too far to left while all liberalism is right wing as graphs 2 & 3 above .
You could argue Leninism was despotic socialism as he redefined socialism as that transitory period between capitalism and communism they got stuck in. But Marxism is not , which is communism , therefore it should be with Anarcho communism and anarcho syndicalism which also believe in revolution.
If you are going to say an ideology is positioned by the way its implemented then liberalism would have to be very authoritarian as it took series of bloody revolutions to implement and is still held together with armys, police and prison and NAZIsm is very libertarian as NAZI party got power through democracy , it was elected. and passed legislation to make a dictatorship . You cant rate one one way and others another way to suit your political agenda . They are still held together with armys police and prisons.
In NZ it looks something like this. Except it also misses socialism the left side of the political spectrum.
Fascism is the hardest to pinpoint , while its based on conservatism ideology its economic policy is misunderstood . Not all 5 fascist states in 1930s were identical . Nazism however is mostly a made up ideology thou Hitler wrote 25 point program in 1921 when he joined the party and renamed . They still made up alot as it went along and applied . Fascism including Nazism would be under capitalism by most peoples accounts because it was fundamentally a system of private property. Thou some in the right wing call it socialism but to do this you would have to accept Hitlers new rewriting of the definition of socialism ie Race based national socialism. Which fails most if not all of the definitions of socialism especially democracy,. It was government control of the economy to force workers and capitalists to cooperate together for the third Reich . Unions were banned and a one large govt controlled union used. It was nation syndicalism controlled by govt . The other thing was it was corporatist. If you insist its not capitalism then you would need a venn diagram (just for the economics).
hhttps://www.quora.com/Is-using-the-left-right-political-spectrum-still-useful
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Edit
The USA is unique, and its political terminology doesn't align neatly with the broader Western world and cannot be compared to it , requiring careful examination. The U.S. describes its political landscape in ways often distorted by a narcissistic focus on its own history and experiences. To understand the U.S. political system, one must first grasp the typical Western political spectrum above and then place the U.S. within it. This involves unpacking how the U.S. developed its own terminology and what these terms truly represent.
The U.S. built its nation through conquest, war, and pioneering, fostering an individualist national identity rooted in "blood and soil" ideologies and Christian values. This history suppressed unions and socialist movements and cultivated deep-seated anti-socialist sentiment. Without strong socialist or social democratic parties gaining power, there was no significant advocacy for collective or even social democratic ideas, resulting in two right-wing liberal parties. Adding to the complexity, the Republican Party was originally the more liberal and progressive party both socially and economically, while the Democrats supported slavery well after the Civil War. Over time, this reversed: Democrats shifted left during the Civil Rights Movement, and the Republican Party became more conservative by today's U.S. standards probably influenced by christianity.
In contrast, most Western nations—like the UK, New Zealand, and Germany—had/have active social democratic parties (such as the Labour Party or SPD). The U.S.A however, experienced only a brief progressive phase before World War I and never embraced the collective ideologies prominent in other Western democracies. Where the typical Western political spectrum spans communist, socialist, social democratic, and modern liberal (neoliberal) parties, the U.S. political landscape is framed differently depending on who is describing it.
Right-wing commentators often oversimplify the spectrum into three categories, from left to right:
Liberals, Libertarians, Conservatives.
This framing is misleading, as liberals are not inherently left-wing. In the U.S., the center often refers to itself as "progressive" rather than "liberal." But how can the ideologies differ if the terms are used interchangeably? The confusion results in "progressives" being seen as center/center-right, while "modern liberals" are right-of-center with some overlap. Because the right lumps these two ideologies together under "liberals," they resort to labeling neoliberals as "libertarians," which is also inaccurate. True libertarians are anarchists—left-wing thinkers who reject all forms of coerced authority, which includes capitalism , not just government. Some libertarians, such as Ron Paul supporters, even critique the banking system as part of the problem.
Meanwhile, U.S. conservatives are best described as neoliberal conservatives. They advocate free-market economics and small government but maintain strong conservative social values, often influenced by Christian ideology. Advocating truly liberal economic policies would mean reverting to feudalism, so their economic stance is firmly neoliberal.
Thus, the U.S. political spectrum looks something like this, from center to right:
Progressives → Modern Liberals → Neoliberals → Neoliberal Conservatives
The Democratic Party encompasses a mix of progressives, social democrats, modern liberals, neoliberals, and even some neoliberal conservatives. The Republican Party, by contrast, consists predominantly of neoliberals and neoliberal conservatives, with both parties heavily shaped by corporate donations.
Another oddity in the U.S. political landscape is the existence of anarcho-capitalism (ancap), a movement created by Murray Rothbard in the 1960s. This ideology attempts to combine anarchism with capitalism, but it is fundamentally contradictory. Anarchism rejects all forms of coerced authority, including capitalism, and true left-wing anarchists dismiss anarcho-capitalism as a "non-true" form of anarchism.
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The UK is another Western state with a strong conservative influence because of its strong adherence to the monarchy . Its conservatism is represented by the Conservative Party, often referred to as the Tories. This name dates back to the 17th century, originating from a historical Tory party. The UK’s other main political party is the Labour Party, a social democratic party.
In addition to the Conservative Party, and Labour Party the UK also has the Liberal Democrats, when liberals which evolved from the Whigs and merged with the Social Democratic Party.
Like conservatives in the USA, the UK Conservative Party generally advocates for neoliberal economic policies, supporting a free-market economy with limited government intervention. They also emphasize traditional social values, national sovereignty, and a strong defense.
Key conservative principles of the Conservative Party include:
Emphasis on national sovereignty and a strong defense.
Advocacy for traditional social values and institutions, often influenced by Christian principles.
Support for gradual change rather than rapid reform, favoring stability.
A focus on law and order, with strict policies on crime and punishment.
While the UK Conservative Party shares some similarities with the US Conservative movement—such as support for free-market policies, a strong defense, and traditional values—there are key differences due to the distinct political and cultural contexts in each country.
For example, in terms of economic policy, both parties support free-market principles. However, UK Conservatives tend to accept a certain level of social welfare and public services, such as the National Health Service (NHS), whereas US conservatives focus more on reducing government involvement in social services.
On social issues, UK Conservatives are generally more willing to work within a mixed economy that includes social protections, while US conservatives, particularly those aligned with the right-wing Republican Party, often oppose public systems in favor of individualistic, market-driven approaches.
Overall, the UK’s political landscape allows more room for social safety nets, a legacy of its welfare state, which is less prominent in the USA.
as destiny explains
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To compare NZ
We have the green party on the centre and labour party centre right- [both are social democrat parties with labour being one of the 2 main parties ]
People mistake Labour as left because it originally had a socialist as well as unionist base - its still has aa strong union attachment that balance on any right wing . This is what separates states like from NZ with USA .
To the right of them is the National party (the other main party) and further right ACT party while not NZ most right wing technically it is our most liberal party being neo liberal -its founders were the instigators and harbingers of neo liberalism in 1984 when they were in the labour party that introduced neo liberalism . It has had the most influence in nz politics on the right and is currently in right wing government coalition with 8.6% of the vote
Collectively further to the right we have 3 conservative partys
Conservative and Family-Oriented Political Entities in New Zealand
New Zealand’s political spectrum includes various parties and organizations rooted in conservative and family-oriented ideologies. Below is an overview of their key positions and performance in the 2024 election:
New Zealand First (NZ First)
Established in 1993, NZ First is known for its nationalist and conservative policies. The party has been a key player in coalition governments.
Key Policies
- Economic Nationalism: Advocates for reducing foreign ownership and promoting New Zealand businesses.
- Immigration Control: Supports stricter policies to protect cultural identity and economic benefits.
- Law and Order: Promotes tough sentencing laws and increased support for law enforcement.
- Social Welfare Reform: Seeks to reduce welfare dependency through personal responsibility.
- Independent Foreign Policy: Emphasizes New Zealand’s sovereignty and reduced reliance on traditional allies.
Election Performance (2024)
NZ First secured 6.7% of the vote, surpassing the 5% threshold to return to Parliament.
(Source: NATIONBUILDER)
New Conservative Party
Founded in 2011 as the Conservative Party and rebranded after the 2017 election, the New Conservative Party emphasizes traditionalist values and social conservatism.
Key Policies
- Social Conservatism: Opposes abortion, same-sex marriage, and progressive social reforms.
- Economic Policies: Advocates for limited government intervention and traditional market-driven approaches.
Election Performance (2024)
The party received 0.8% of the vote but did not secure representation in Parliament, continuing its trend of polling under 1%. So no MPS elected and no effect in politics
(Source: POLICY.NZ)
ONE Party
The ONE Party integrates Christian principles into its political platform, with a focus on traditional family and moral values.
Key Policies
- Personal Responsibility: Encourages individuals to take responsibility for their actions.
- Individual Freedom: Advocates for freedom of speech and religion.
- Family-Centered Policies: Promotes traditional family structures and opposes progressive social policies.
Election Performance (2024)
The party received 0.6% of the vote, falling short of parliamentary representation but remaining active in political discourse. So no MPS elected and no effect in politics
(Source: ELECTIONS)
Christian Heritage Party (CHP)
The Christian Heritage Party, active between 1989 and 2006, no longer standing , promoted Christian values and social conservatism. Its membership was restricted to self-identified Christians.
Key Policies
- Affirming Marriage: Advocated for heterosexual marriage while opposing same-sex marriage and civil unions.
- Building Families: Supported traditional family structures with targeted policies.
- Celebrating Life: Maintained a strong anti-abortion stance.
- Law and Order: Backed stringent enforcement, including reinstating capital punishment.
- Media and Morality: Advocated for stricter standards in media to limit violence and pornography.
Although dissolved in 2006, the CHP’s legacy reflects a significant period of Christian social conservatism in New Zealand’s political history.
(Source: TE ARA ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW ZEALAND, WIKIPEDIA)
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