The Cyclical Political Spectrum 


The idea of a linear political spectrum may need to be revised based on reality instead of theory. 

The normal idea of a political ideology spectrum is usually placed on a line where "liberal" elements are placed on the left and "conservative" elements on the right. That's the American perception, anyway; in Russia and the former Soviet states a "conservative" is a person who harkens back to the sweet, sweet days of communism, whilst a "liberal" is someone who advocates for more Western-style democratic reforms. (These definitions of "conservative" and "liberal" are more agreeable with me than the general American meanings as a true liberal will push for more, well, liberty and a conservative will pine for the days past. I will write about the misuse of these words at some other time.)

Categorizing ideologies on the left or the right began, it is believed, in France during the Revolution: delegates to the national assembly sat on either the left side or the right side of the tennis court--what better place to hold a political meeting of the minds--with those who could not fit seating themselves in the center. I believe that classifying political thought in this fashion is convenient and can be a lot more accurate than using other silly words to describe it. I do have a suggestion, however, for the way in which the spectrum of political thought is drawn and here is the reason why.

The 20th century saw two of the most brutal regimes in human history emerge and terrorize the world: Communism and Fascism. Both types of regime restricted their "subjects" in similar ways by spying on them, jailing them, pressing them into armed service, enslaving them and, in general, killing them. Stalin and Hitler were both tyrants of a special breed that only fiends such as the cuddly Kim Jong Il of North Korea and Mao Zedong have tried to emulate (with great success, I might add). The point of this seemingly unrelated tangent is to explain that the farther and farther that ideologies of the left and the right move away from the political "center," the more they resemble each other in practice. To be sure, on paper, communism is as far leftward as any other ideology, just as fascism is at the extreme right. But we all know that what looks good and workable on paper has a pretty high tendency to not turn out that way.

So, what? Is it enough for us to say that "the more that things change, the more that they stay the same?" In simple terms, it may be. The more that a regime moves away from the "center" (a point that will be different for different cultures but which is largely standardized in the Western democracies) the closer that they actually become.

This is where the idea for the cyclical political spectrum comes. I doodled it out on the back of a napkin--isn't that where all ingenious ideas are first documented?--a couple of years ago and have been planning on elaborating on it a bit more ever since. Imagine taking a linear political spectrum and bending each end toward the other, creating a circle and you will understand the basic idea. I have placed regimes and parties on the spectrum according to my perception of their current positions.

The model must be read from twelve o'clock:







Ideologically, left-wing regimes restrict financial freedom (and in so doing, they reduce personal freedom as well); right-wing ideology restricts personal freedom (and, thus, financial freedom). That is how the two converge at the bottom of the spectrum at the "Autocratic Center." In many cases, the entire spectrum can even be adapted based on the regime onto which it is being applied. For example, if a news commentator in Sweden wants to classify a new political party with policies similar to those of the German Green Party, he can place his origin at the "Socialist Center" and call the de facto Greens "right-wing" even though we in America would never consider the Greens as being on the right. This type of cyclical spectrum is adaptable and contextual based on any political perspective.

The incorporation of a color wheel into the model is for further emphasis that the further left or right that an ideology will appear to move away from another that the closer it will eventually end up. There are opposites, though, illustrated by distance along the circle's circumference and by opposite colors.

You may have noticed that I placed quotation marks around "Communism" at the bottom of the spectrum. Because the entire model is based around the realistic implementation of ideologies and policies of the regimes and because true Marxist Communism was never achieved, "Communism" is noted as such because of what it professed to be.

I also thought that it was interesting that there are large gaps in the spectrum at around two, four and eight o'clock. My placement of parties and regimes on the spectrum is only how they appear in my understanding at the present time; I may choose to alter various positions based on developments and the more information that I obtain and the positions are not immutable.

It is also extremely interesting how a line can be drawn straight from 270º to 90º, above which are placed most of the Western governments and below which reside the non-Western or Eastern regimes. The US, after all, had considerable influence in forming Japan's post-WWII regime which has ruled to this day, so Japan's position is understandable. A discussion on so-called Western and so-called Eastern thought processes would be prudent.

In closing, if anyone has any suggestions for party of regime placements (or any that I left out which should be included), please let me know. Also, I welcome any critical or supportive comments on the model as a whole. I have yet to see it anywhere else and so the idea appears to be mine fully. The illustration above is only a draft as I still have a lot to learn about Illustrator and Photoshop even after all of my years of using it. A prettier model may follow.

UPDATE: After thinking that I was really onto something new here I did some further research online and, although I did not find anything quite the same as my illustration of the model, the idea of a cyclical spectrum has been around for a while. Don't you just love coming up with something all by yourself, only to find that someone else beat you to it? Well, there goes this idea. I've got to work on the next one (or elaborate even further one this one), I suppose.

Here's what Wikipedia says:

"Perhaps the simplest alternative to the left-right spectrum was devised as a rhetorical tool during the Cold War. This was a circle which brought together the far right and left ends of the traditional spectrum, equating "extreme socialism" (i.e. the Communist Party) with "extreme conservatism" (i.e. Fascism). This nexus was particularly useful to those opposed to rapprochement with the Soviet Union."

My thoughts exactly.

;) 

Posted: Fri - February 11, 2005 at 02:54 PM          

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