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The Politics Shed- A Free Text Book for all students of Politics.
The terms "left wing" and "right wing" originated from the physical seating arrangements of politicians in the French National Assembly during the summer of 1789.
The Right: Aristocrats, nobility, and high-ranking religious leaders who supported King Louis XVI gathered on the president's right side. This side favored maintaining traditional hierarchies, institutional order, and the royal veto privilege.
The Left: Commoners, revolutionaries, and lower-ranking clergy sat on the president's left side. This faction fought for radical change, republicanism, social equality, and civil liberties
in many Western European democracies, traditionally the left is associated with socially liberal and economically left values, while the right is traditionally associated with socially conservative and economically right values, Eastern European, post-communist parties are frequently juxtaposed, with economically left parties holding nationalist positions more frequently and economically right parties being liberal and internationalist
The ' Left ' features the following typical ideas:
· collectivism, which is a belief that goals can be achieved by collective action as well as by the efforts of individuals. This includes the idea of the state as an essential and positive force in the lives of all
· a belief that the interests of the wider community are superior to the interests of individuals
· a belief in the universal distribution of benefits such as health, education, social insurance
· a positive view of human nature and a belief that people are essentially social animals, rather than self-seeking individuals
· the promotion of equality, fraternity and maximum freedom
Socialism is a clear example of left-wing beliefs.
The 'Right ' features the following typical ideas:
· a firm belief in the importance of the individual and the provision of individual choice
· a belief that individuals have a flawed human nature and therefore need discipline
· a rejection of collectivism, with which right-wing politicians largely disagree
· a view that the role of the state in people's lives should be limited
· a view of human nature suggesting that individuals prefer to pursue their own goals and may see their own interests as more important than those of the wider community
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