Left and Right Wing Politics

There is a specific type of political spectrum that decides the affiliation of a person to a particular political party, position, and ideologies. It is known as the left wing and right wing spectrum. The middle stance that is taken by most people is known as centrism. People are divided in the country into these three sections. 

Hence, it is important for students to gather some more information about these sections and what they tend to represent when it comes to politics. This is exactly what we are going to do right here. In this article, students will be provided with information on what is left and right wing in politics. 

What is Left Wing and Right Wing? 

In your studies regarding politics, you must have definitely come across certain terms such as leftist and rightist or left wing & right wing. Do you have any idea where these words originated from and what are different ideologies are associated with these words? Well, in order to provide you with a clear picture, we have got an entire article. There are so many people who are still not familiar with these terms. And even if they do know about certain terminologies, they are not provided with detailed information as well. Hence, reading this article is definitely going to be the best help that one can get for sure. 

After reading this article, people will be familiar with the concept of left wing vs right wing in the best way. They will also be able to understand the political affiliations associated with these words as well. 

Most of the questions about the left-wing vs right-wing tend to be about the ideologies that are in relation to these terms. It can be said that the left and the right-wing spectrum basically deals with the classification of the different ideologies and political positions as well as different parties from a stand of social equality on the right side and the left side. When there is an intermediate stance, it is known as centrism. 

In the present times, the left and right politics wings are currently being used to denote the liberals and conservatives. However, it was during the period of the French Revolution when these terms were actually coined. Ever since then, these words have been used to define the division of the people who are supporters of politics in the best way. 

History of the Origin of Right Wing and Left Wing in India 

It was during the year 1789 when the prominent members belonging to the French National Assembly had a meeting for the drafting and forming of the constitution. With the ongoing debate on the authority provided to King Louis XVI, there were some arguments made from two different sides. With the rage of the debate increasing, the group divided into the revolutionaries who were anti-royalist and the aristocratic supporters who were conservatives. The revolutionaries gathered collectively on the left side of the presiding officer and the conservatives gathered on the right side of the presiding officer. 

With that happening, news began to spread all over the areas and soon there were newspapers talking about the two different sides. While the left side was mentioned to be the progressive side, the right side was said to have a more traditional approach in the French National Assembly. However, these distinctions did not have any effects during the reign of Napoleon Bonaparte. 

In the year 1971, the French Legislative Assembly became the successor of the French National Assembly. During the debates of those times, the innovators and progressive-minded people would sit on the left side of the table. The moderates would have a position right on the center of the table and the defenders who were conscientious and proposed the traditional methods of organizing the constitution would have a place on the right side. This was how the arrangement continued until 1972 came to an end. 

It was on the 2nd of June in the year 1973, when the existing government faced a threat in the form of violence and was hastily removed from the position of power. This was the time when the right side of the entire assembly was abandoned and deserted by the people. But the members who were supposed to be on the right side started to sit right at the center section of the assembly. 

In between 1814 and 1815, there were certain political clubs were being formed. During those times, the ultraloyalists who were part of the French political fraction began to sit at the right side of the assembly. The place in the center was taken by the constitutionals and the independents occupied the seat on the left side of the assembly. Till that time, the terms of right and left were not exactly in use for marking the political forms and ideologies of the particular individuals and it was just limited to the seating arrangements in the legislature. 

After the year 1848 passed, there were certain terms such as reactionaries and democratic socialists that came into existence and people started using these terms. The main objective behind the use of these terms was to symbolize the party affiliation of the people. In 1870, the adoption of the French Third Republic occurred. In 1871, the parties in the political scenario at that time started using terms such as Centre-left, republican left, Extreme Right, Centre-right, and Extreme Left. 

While these terms were heavily being used in France, the word soon spread and more countries started using these words and terms to affiliate themselves with certain ideologies of the political parties. Thus, the existence of left vs right politics came to existence from here. 

Important Ideologies of Left Wing Politics 

The ideology of left-wing politics was based mostly on ideas like equality, fraternity, freedom, progress, rights, internationalism, and reform. These were the main stances taken by the people in left-wing politics. 

According to the different analysts who were a part of the political scenario, the left-wing members tend to be communists, socialists, anarchists, social democrats, democratic socialists, progressives, social liberals, and left-libertarians. 

The policies that are mostly followed by the left-wing members include the establishment of equality in the society, central planning, separation of state and religion, intervention of government in the country’s economy, protectionism, anti-free trade, and welfare of the state. 

The liberals of the left-wing tend to oppose the death penalty that is given to some criminals.

These people always have certain views that can be termed as progressive when compared to others. They tend to have an open mind about topics such as abortion, immigration, and same-sex marriages. 

Some of the main examples of members and organizations that belong to the leftist group are the Indian National Congress, CPI, AAP, and many others. 

Important Ideologies of Right Wing Politics 

The main points where the right-wing members would lay their ideologies were in ideas such as hierarchy, authority, tradition, duty, nationalism, reaction, and order. 

According to the different analysts who were a part of the political scenario, the right-wing members tend to be conservatives, neoconservatives, right-libertarians, monarchists, reactionaries, fascists, imperialists, as well as traditionalists. 

Some of the policies followed by the right-wing groups include a limited role of the government in the economies as well as the lives of people, individual freedom for the people, nationalism, support for the religions, traditionalism, religious conservation, no special protection for minorities, promotion of the private sectors for proper growth, lower rates on taxes, less regulation regarding the Indian economy. 

These people tend to be in support of the penalty of death as well as immigration that is placed upon certain people. They also have a very traditional mindset when it comes to topics such as immigration, abortion, and same-sex marriages. 

Some examples of the groups in the right-wing politics section include Shiv Sena, MNS, BJP, and many others. 

Conclusion

So, these are some details on the difference between left wing and right wing of politics. We hope this article was helpful in clearing your doubts.