User:Kitabc12345/激進中間派

Template:Liberalism sidebar Template:Conservatism sidebar 激進中間派是20世紀後期在西方國家興起的一種意識形態。最初定義方式多種多樣，但是在21世紀初，許多政治學文獻對它進行了更為完善的定義。

激進中間派一詞是指大多數激進派中間派願意對機構進行根本性改革的意願。中間主義是指一種信念，即真正的解決方案需要實在論和實用主義，而不僅僅是理想主義和情感。一個激進的中間派文本將激進的中心主義定義為“沒有幻想的理想主義”，這是約翰·甘迺迪最初的說法。 The in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical centrists to call for fundamental reform of institutions. The 中间主义 refers to a belief that genuine solutions require 實在論 and 实用主义, not just idealism and emotion. One radical centrist text defines radical centrism as "idealism without illusions", a phrase originally from 约翰·肯尼迪.

Radical centrists borrow ideas from the 左派 and the 右派, often melding them together. Most support 市场经济 solutions to 社会问题, with strong governmental oversight in the 公眾利益. There is support for increased global engagement and the growth of an empowered 中產階級 in 发展中国家. Many radical centrists work within the major political parties, but they also support 無黨籍 or 第三勢力 initiatives and candidacies.

One common criticism of radical centrism is that its policies are only marginally different from conventional centrist policies. Some observers see radical centrism as primarily a process of catalyzing dialogue and fresh thinking among polarized people and groups.

Influences and precursors

Some influences on radical centrist political philosophy are not directly political. , a philosopher with radical-centrist interests, identifies a number of philosophical concepts supporting balance, reconciliation or synthesis, including 孔子' concept of 仁, 亚里士多德's concept of the , 德西德里乌斯·伊拉斯谟's and 米歇爾·德·蒙田's humanism, 詹巴蒂斯塔·维柯's evolutionary vision of history, 威廉·詹姆士' and 约翰·杜威's 实用主义, and 師利·奧羅賓多's integration of opposites.

Urban theorist and activist 简·雅各布斯 (1916–2006), who has been described as "proto-radical middle"

However, most commonly cited influences and precursors are from the political realm. For example, British radical-centrist politician 尼克·克萊格 considers himself an heir to political theorist 约翰·斯图尔特·密尔, former Liberal Prime Minister 大衛·勞合·喬治, economist 约翰·梅纳德·凯恩斯, social reformer 威廉·贝弗里奇 and former Liberal Party leader . In his book Independent Nation (2004), discusses precursors of 21st-century U.S. political centrism, including President 西奥多·罗斯福, Supreme Court Justice 厄尔·沃伦, Senator 丹尼尔·帕特里克·莫伊尼汉, Senator 玛格丽特·蔡斯·史密斯, and Senator 爱德华·布鲁克. Radical centrist writer points to political influences from outside the electoral arena, including 社群主義 thinker 阿米太·愛茲安尼, magazine publisher , management theorist 彼得·德鲁克, city planning theorist 简·雅各布斯 and futurists 阿尔文·托夫勒. Satin calls 本傑明·富蘭克林 the radical middle's favorite Founding Father since he was "extraordinarily practical", "extraordinarily creative" and managed to "get the warring factions and wounded egos to transcend their differences".

Late 20th-century groundwork

Initial definitions

According to journalist , the phrase "radical middle" was coined by , a staff writer for 紐約客. In the introduction to her second collection of essays, Toward a Radical Middle (1969), she presented it as a healing radicalism. Adler said it rejected the violent posturing and rhetoric of the 1960s in favor of such "corny" values as "reason, decency, prosperity, human dignity [and human] contact". She called for the "reconciliation" of the white working class and 非裔美国人.

In the 1970s, sociologist Donald I. Warren described the radical center as consisting of those "middle American radicals" who were suspicious of big government, the national media and academics, as well as rich people and predatory corporations. Although they might vote for Democrats or Republicans, or for populists like 乔治·华莱士, they felt politically homeless and were looking for leaders who would address their concerns.

, who wrote the 新闻周刊 cover story "Stalking the Radical Middle"

In the 1980s and 1990s, several authors contributed their understandings to the concept of the radical center. For example, futurist added a 整全觀 dimension to the concept when she said: "[The] Radical Center ... is not neutral, not middle-of-the-road, but a view of the whole road". Sociologist located the creative part of the political spectrum at the center: "The extremes of right and left know where they stand, while the center furnishes what is original and unexpected". African-American theorist upset many political thinkers when he pronounced himself a "radical pragmatist". Crouch explained: "I affirm whatever I think has the best chance of working, of being both inspirational and unsentimental, of reasoning across the categories of false division and beyond the decoy of race".

In his influential 1995 新闻周刊 cover story "Stalking the Radical Middle", journalist described radical centrists as angrier and more frustrated than conventional Democrats and Republicans. Klein said they share four broad goals: getting money out of politics, balancing the budget, restoring civility and figuring out how to run government better. He also said their concerns were fueling "what is becoming a significant intellectual movement, nothing less than an attempt to replace the traditional notions of liberalism and conservatism".

Relations to the Third Way

In 1998, British sociologist 安東尼·紀登斯 claimed that the radical center is synonymous with the 第三条道路. For Giddens, an advisor to former 大不列顛島 Prime Minister 托尼·布莱尔 and for many other European political actors, the Third Way is a reconstituted form of 社會民主主義.

Some radical centrist thinkers do not equate radical centrism with the Third Way. In Britain, many do not see themselves as social democrats. Most prominently, British radical-centrist politician 尼克·克萊格 has made it clear he does not consider himself an heir to Tony Blair and , Clegg's longtime advisor, emphatically rejects social democracy.

In the United States, the situation is different because the term Third Way was adopted by the and other moderate Democrats. However, most U.S. radical centrists also avoid the term. Ted Halstead and Michael Lind's introduction to radical centrist politics fails to mention it and Lind subsequently accused the organized moderate Democrats of siding with the "center-right" and 华尔街. Radical centrists have expressed dismay with what they see as "split[ting] the difference", "" and other supposed practices of what some of them call the "mushy middle".

21st-century overviews

, co-author of The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics

The first years of the 21st century saw publication of four introductions to radical centrist politics: and 's The Radical Center (2001), 's The Two Percent Solution (2003), 's Independent Nation (2004) and 's Radical Middle (2004). These books attempted to take the concept of radical centrism beyond the stage of "cautious gestures" and journalistic observation and define it as a political philosophy.

The authors came to their task from diverse political backgrounds: Avlon had been a speechwriter for New York Republican Mayor 魯迪·朱利安尼; Miller had been a business consultant before serving in President 比尔·克林顿's budget office; Lind had been an exponent of 哈里·S·杜鲁门-style "national liberalism"; Halstead had run a think tank called Redefining Progress; and Satin had co-drafted the 美国绿党's foundational political statement, "Ten Key Values". However, there is a X世代: all these authors were between 31 and 41 years of age when their books were published (except for Satin, who was nearing 60).

While the four books do not speak with one voice, among them they express assumptions, analyses, policies and strategies that helped set the parameters for radical centrism as a 21st-century political philosophy:

Assumptions

Former Green activist (left) and former Republican activist (right), two early 21st-century radical centrist authors

• Our problems cannot be solved by twiddling the dials; substantial reforms are needed in many areas.
• Solving our problems will not require massive infusions of new money.
• However, solving our problems will require drawing on the best ideas from left and right and wherever else they may be found.
• It will also require creative and original ideas – .
• Such thinking cannot be divorced from the world as it is, or from tempered understandings of human nature. A mixture of idealism and realism is needed. "Idealism without realism is impotent", says John Avlon. "Realism without idealism is empty".

Analysis

• 北美洲 and 西欧 have entered an 信息时代 , with new possibilities that are barely being tapped.
• In this new age, a plurality of people is neither 自由主义 nor 保守主义, but independent and looking to move in a more appropriate direction.
• Nevertheless, the major political parties are committed to ideas developed in, and for, a different era; and are unwilling or unable to realistically address the future.
• Most people in the Information Age want to maximize the amount of choice they have in their lives.
• In addition, people are insisting that they be given a fair opportunity to succeed in the new world they are entering.

General policies

• An overriding commitment to , even if it entails of social programs.
• An overriding commitment to reforming 公立學校, whether by equalizing spending on 学区s, offering , hiring better 教师s, or empowering the 校长 and teachers we have now.
• A commitment to 市场经济 solutions in 医疗卫生, energy, the environment, etc., so long as the solutions are carefully regulated by government to serve the . The policy goal, says Matthew Miller, is to "harness market forces for public purposes".
• A commitment to provide jobs for everyone willing to work, whether by subsidizing jobs in the private sector or by creating jobs in the public sector.
• A commitment to need-based rather than race-based 肯定性行动; more generally, a commitment to race-neutral ideals.
• A commitment to participate in institutions and processes of 全球治理; and be of genuine assistance to people in the 发展中国家.

Strategy

• A new political majority can be built, whether it be seen to consist largely of Avlon's political independents, Satin's "caring persons", Miller's balanced and pragmatic individuals, or Halstead and Lind's triad of disaffected voters, enlightened business leaders, and young people.
• National political leadership is important; local and nonprofit activism is not enough.
• Political process reform is also important – for example, implementing 排序複選制 in elections and providing free media time to candidates.
• A radical centrist party should be created, assuming one of the major parties cannot simply be won over by radical centrist thinkers and activists.
• In the meantime, particular 無黨籍, major-party or 第三勢力 candidacies should be supported.

Idea creation and dissemination

Along with publication of the four overviews of radical centrist politics, the first part of the 21st century saw a rise in the creation and dissemination of radical centrist 公共政策.

Think tanks and mass media

2015 panel discussion at the think tank in Washington, D.C.

Several 智庫s are developing radical centrist ideas more thoroughly than was done in the overview books. By the early 2000s these included in Britain; the in Australia; and (formerly the New America Foundation) in the United States. New America was started by authors and , as well as two others, to bring radical centrist ideas to Washington, D.C. journalists and policy researchers.

In the 2010s, new think tanks began promoting radical centrist ideas. "Radix: Think Tank for the Radical Centre" was established in London in 2016; its initial board of trustees included former 自由民主党 (英国) leader 尼克·克萊格. Writing in 衛報, Radix policy director called for "big, radical ideas" that could break with both trickle-down conservatism and backward-looking socialism. In 2018, a policy document released by the then four-year-old of Washington, D.C. was characterized as a "manifesto for radical centrism" by writer Paul Ratner. According to Ratner, the document – signed by some of Niskanen's executives and policy analysts – is an attempt to "incorporate rival ideological positions into a way forward" for America.

A radical centrist perspective can also be found in major periodicals. In the United States, for example, 華盛頓月刊 was started by early radical centrist thinker and many large-circulation magazines publish articles by New America fellows. Columnists who have written from a radical centrist perspective include , 湯馬斯·佛里曼, , and . Prominent journalists and 法里德·扎卡利亞 have been identified as radical centrists.

In Britain, the news magazine 经济学人 positions itself as radical centrist. An editorial ("leader") in 2012 declared in bolded type: "A new form of radical centrist politics is needed to tackle inequality without hurting economic growth". An essay on 经济学人 's website the following year, introduced by the editor, argues that the magazine had always "com[e] ... from what we like to call the radical centre".

Books on specific topics

speaks on his book How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance

Many books are offering radical centrist perspectives and policy proposals on specific topics. Some examples include foreign policy, environmentalism, food and agriculture, underachievement among minorities, women and men, bureaucracy and overregulation, economics, international relations, political dialogue, political organization and what one person can do.

• In Ethical Realism (2006), British liberal and U.S. conservative advocate a foreign policy based on modesty, principle and seeing ourselves as others see us.
• In Break Through (2007), environmental strategists and of the call on activists to become more comfortable with pragmatism, high-technology and aspirations for human greatness.
• In Food from the Radical Center (2018), ecologist proposes agricultural policies intended to unite left and right as well as improve the food supply.
• In Winning the Race (2005), linguist says that many 非裔美国人 are negatively affected by a cultural phenomenon he calls "therapeutic alienation".
• In Unfinished Business (2016), 安妮-玛丽·斯劳特 of rethinks feminist assumptions and presents new visions of how women and men can flourish.
• In Try Common Sense (2019), attorney urges the national government to set broad goals and standards, and leave interpretation to those closest to the ground.
• In The Origin of Wealth (2006), Eric Beinhocker of the portrays the economy as a dynamic but imperfectly self-regulating evolutionary system and suggests policies that could support benign socio-economic evolution.
• In How to Run the World (2011), scholar argues that the emerging 國際關係學 should not be run from the top down, but by a galaxy of 第三部門, nation-state, corporate and individual actors cooperating for their mutual benefit.
• In The Righteous Mind (2012), social psychologist says we can conduct useful political dialogue only after acknowledging the strengths in our opponents' ways of thinking.
• In Voice of the People (2008), conservative activist and liberal attorney James Turner attempt to lay the groundwork for a grassroots "" movement across the U.S.
• In his memoir Radical Middle: Confessions of an Accidental Revolutionary (2010), South African journalist tries to show that one person can make a difference in a situation many might regard as hopeless.

Radical centrist political action

Australia's (right) and Brazil's (left), who have been identified as two radical centrist actors in the 2010s

Radical centrists have been and continue to be engaged in a variety of political activities.

Australia

In Australia, lawyer is building an explicitly radical centrist movement among Aborigines. The movement is seeking more assistance from the Australian state, but is also seeking to convince individual Aborigines to take more responsibility for their lives. To political philosopher Katherine Curchin, writing in the , Pearson is attempting something unusual and worthwhile: casting public debate on indigenous issues in terms of a search for a radical center. She says Pearson's methods have much in common with those of 審議式民主.

Brazil

In the late 2010s, Brazil's was identified by 经济学人 as an emerging radical-centrist leader. Formerly a member of the left-wing 勞工黨 (巴西), by 2017 she had organized a new party whose watchwords included environmentalism, liberalism, and "clean politics". She had already served six years as Minister of the Environment, and in 2010 she was the candidate for President of Brazil, finishing third with 20% of the vote.

Britain

尼克·克萊格 speaking at the 世界經濟論壇 annual meeting in 达沃斯, 2011

Following the 2010 election, 尼克·克萊格, then leader of the 自由民主党 (英国) (Britain's third-largest party at the time), had his party enter into a to form a majority government. In a speech to party members in the spring of 2011, Clegg declared that he considers himself and his party to be radical centrist:

For the left, an obsession with the state. For the right, a worship of the market. But as liberals, we place our faith in people. People with power and opportunity in their hands. Our opponents try to divide us with their outdated labels of left and right. But we are not on the left and we are not on the right. We have our own label: Liberal. We are liberals and we own the freehold to the centre ground of British politics. Our politics is the politics of the radical centre.

In the autumn of 2012, Clegg's longtime policy advisor elaborated on the differences between Clegg's identity as a "radical liberal" and traditional 社會民主主義. He stated that Clegg's conception of liberalism rejected "statism, paternalism, insularity and narrow egalitarianism".

Canada

賈斯汀·杜魯多 campaigning at a 2015 同志骄傲 in Vancouver

In the late 1970s, Prime Minister 皮埃尔·特鲁多 claimed that his 加拿大自由党 adhered to the "radical center". One thing this means, Trudeau said, is that "sometimes we have to fight against the state". 保羅·赫勒r, who served in Trudeau's first cabinet and spent over half a century in Canadian political life, said in 2010, "I have been branded as everything from far left to far right. I put myself in the radical center – one who seeks solutions to problems based on first principles without regard to ideology. I believe that it is the kind of solution the world desperately needs at a time when niggling change or fine tuning is not good enough".

賈斯汀·杜魯多, elected Prime Minister of Canada in 2015, has been characterized as radical centrist by Stuart Trew of the as well as by the magazine . Trew notes that both Justin Trudeau and his French counterpart 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙 are optimists, moderate redistributionists, internationalists, feminists and good listeners. According to Trew, consultation is key.

Chile

In 2017, The Economist described Chile's as a rising radical-centrist politician. A former finance minister in 蜜雪兒·巴舍萊's first government, he later unsuccessfully ran against her for the presidential nomination and then helped establish a new political party. According to The Economist, Velasco and his colleagues say they support a political philosophy that is both liberal and egalitarian. Like 阿马蒂亚·库马尔·森, they see freedom not just as freedom-from, but as the absence of domination and the opportunity to fulfill one's potential. Like 约翰·罗尔斯, they reject the far left's emphasis on state redistribution in favor of an emphasis on equal treatment for all with special vigilance against class- and race-based discrimination.

France

埃马纽埃尔·马克龙 speaking at a high-tech conference in 2014

Several observers have identified 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙, elected President of France in 2017, as a radical centrist. 安妮·阿普尔鲍姆 of 华盛顿邮报 says Macron "represents the brand-new radical center", as does his political movement, 共和國前進！, which Applebaum translates as "forward". She notes a number of politically bridging ideas Macron holds – for example, "He embraces markets, but says he believes in 'collective solidarity'". A professor of history, Robert Zaretsky, writing in 外交政策 (杂志), argues that Macron's radical centrism is "the embodiment of a particularly French kind of center – the extreme center". He points to Macron's declaration that he is "neither left nor right", and to his support for policies, such as public-sector austerity and major environmental investments, that traditional political parties might find contradictory.

U.S. politician Dave Andersion, writing in 国会山报 newspaper, says that Macron's election victory points the way for those "who wish to transcend their polarized politics of [the present] in the name of a new center, not a moderate center associated with United States and United Kingdom 'Third Way' politics but what has been described as Macron's 'radical center' point of view. … [It] transcends left and right but takes important elements of both sides".

Germany

安娜琳娜·貝伯克 became co-leader of the increasingly pragmatic 联盟90/绿党 in 2018

Writing at The Dahrendorf Forum, a joint project of the 赫尔蒂行政学院 (Berlin) and the 倫敦政治經濟學院, Forum fellow Alexandru Filip put the 联盟90/绿党 of 2018 in the same camp as 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙's French party (see above) and 阿爾韋特·里維拉's Spanish one (see below). His article "On New and Radical Centrism" argued that the Greens did relatively well in the 2017年德国联邦议院选举 not only because of their stance against the "system" but also as a result of "a more centrist, socio-liberal, pro-European constituency that felt alienated by the power-sharing cartel" of the larger parties.

Following the 2017 federal election, 德国之声 correspondent Rina Goldenberg traced the evolution of the German Greens from the idealism of the 1980s to a more pragmatic but still principled stance. She wrote, in pertinent part:

The internal make-up of the Greens has evolved as the first generation has grown older. Many have changed their priorities, morphing from former hippies to urban professionals. Green supporters are generally well-educated, high-earning urbanites with a strong belief in the benefits of a multicultural society. No other party fields more candidates with an immigrant background than the Greens.

Traditionally, the German Greens elect co-leaders of their party – one male and one female; one from the party's leftist wing and one from its pragmatic, centrist wing. In 2018 the party broke with tradition by electing both co-leaders from its moderate wing, federal MP 安娜琳娜·貝伯克 and northern-state politician 羅伯特·哈貝克.

Israel

亚伊尔·拉皮德 addressing supporters on election night in 2013

In an article for in 2012, conservative 以色列议会 member named Israeli politician 亚伊尔·拉皮德 and his 擁有未來 (There Is a Future) party as examples of "the radical center" in Israel, which she warned her readers against. In 2013, – author of books addressing Israelis and Palestinians alike – explained why he voted for Lapid, saying, in part:

He emerged as the voice of middle class disaffection, yet included in his 名單比例代表制 two Ethiopians, representatives of one of the country's poorest constituencies. ... Yair has sought dialogue. ... Some see Yair's Israeli eclecticism as an expression of ideological immaturity, of indecisiveness. In fact it reflects his ability – alone among today's leaders – to define the Israeli center. ... These voters agree with the left about the dangers of occupation and with the right about the dangers of a delusional peace.

In 2017, Lapid and his party were surging in the polls. In May 2020, following three elections, Lapid was named leader of the opposition in Israel. A month prior, Lapid had written an essay in which he described his version of centrism as "the politics of the broad consensus that empowers us all. Together, we are creating something new".

Italy

According to journalist , Italian 天主教民主党 leader 阿尔多·莫罗's call for "parallel convergence" prefigured today's calls for radical centrism. Until being killed by the 红色旅 in the late 1970s, Moro had been promoting a political alliance between Christian Democracy and the 意大利共产党. Moro acknowledged that the two parties were so different that they ran on parallel tracks and he did not want them to lose their identities, but he emphasized that in the end their interests were convergent—hence the phrase he coined and popularized, "parallel convergence".

In the 2010s, Spanish radical centrist 阿爾韋特·里維拉 reportedly cited Italian politician 马泰奥·伦齐 as a soulmate.

Netherlands

According to the Dutch opinion magazine , the Dutch political party 民主66 can be seen as radical centrist. Radical centrism is a possibility in another Dutch party as well. In a report presented in 2012 to the 基督教民主黨 (荷蘭) (CDA) party, CDA member and former minister of social affairs recommends that the CDA develop itself into a radical centrist ("radicale midden") party. The D66 has been seen as the more progressive and individualistic of the two parties, and the CDA as the more conservative and personalistic / communitarian.

South Korea

In South Korea, the term jungdogaehyeok (

Kitabc12345/激進中間派
諺文	중도개혁
汉字	中道改革

) bears resemblance to the term radical centrism. The , founded in 1987, officially put forward a jungdogaehyeok. But from then until 2016, the term was rarely used in South Korean politics.

After 2016, the 國民之黨, the 正未來黨, the 民主和平黨, the 代案新黨 party, the 民生黨, and the 國民之黨 (2020年) all called themselves jungdogaehyeok.

South Korean politician 安哲秀 has described himself explicitly as a "radical centrist" (

Kitabc12345/激進中間派
諺文	극중주의
汉字	極中主義
文观部式	geukjungjuui

).

Spain

阿爾韋特·里維拉 speaking at a 公民－公民党 event in 2015

In Spain, 阿爾韋特·里維拉 and his 公民－公民党 (Citizens) party have been described as radical centrist by , as well as by Spanish-language commentators and news outlets. Rivera himself has described his movement as radical centrist, saying, "We're the radical center. We can't beat them when it comes to populism. What Ciudadanos aspires to is radical, courageous changes backed by numbers, data, proposals, economists, technicians and capable people". Rivera has called for politics to transcend the old labels, saying, "We have to move away from the old left-right axis". 经济学人 has likened Rivera and his party to 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙 and his party 共和國前進！ in France. Rivera's party has taken on the established parties of the left and right and has had some success, most notably in the 2017年加泰隆尼亞議會選舉.

United States

罗斯·佩罗 was an early proponent of radical centrism.

Political independent 傑西·溫圖拉 was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1998.

Some commentators identify 1992年罗斯·佩罗竞选美国总统 as the first radical centrist national campaign. However, many radical centrist authors were not enthusiastic about 罗斯·佩罗. Matthew Miller acknowledges that Perot had enough principle to support a gasoline tax hike, Halstead and Lind note that he popularized the idea of balancing the budget and John Avlon says he crystallized popular distrust of partisan extremes. However, none of those authors examines Perot's ideas or campaigns in depth and Mark Satin does not mention Perot at all. Joe Klein mocked one of Perot's campaign gaffes and said he was not a sufficiently substantial figure. Miller characterizes Perot as a rich, self-financed lone wolf. By contrast, what most radical centrists say they want in political action terms is the building of a grounded political movement.

Also in the 1990s, political independents 傑西·溫圖拉, 安格斯·金 and became governors of American states. According to John Avlon, they pioneered the combination of fiscal prudence and social tolerance that has served as a model for radical centrist governance ever since. They also developed a characteristic style, a combination of "common sense and maverick appeal".

In the decade of the 2000s, a number of governors and mayors – most prominently, California governor 阿诺·施瓦辛格 and New York City mayor 迈克尔·布隆伯格 – were celebrated by 時代雜誌 magazine as "action heroes" who looked beyond partisanship to get things done. A similar article that decade in placed "self-styled 'radical centrist'" governor 马克·沃纳 of Virginia in that camp.

In the 2010s, the radical centrist movement in the U.S. is mostly being played out in the national media. In 2010, for example, The New York Times columnist 湯馬斯·佛里曼 called for "a 茶党运动 of the radical center", an organized national pressure group. Friedman later co-wrote a book with scholar discussing key issues in American society and calling for an explicitly radical centrist politics and program to deal with them. At The Washington Post, columnist was explaining "Why we need a third party of (radical) centrists".

In 2011, Friedman championed , an insurgent group of radical centrist Democrats, Republicans and independents who were hoping to run an independent Presidential candidate in 2012. Meanwhile, Miller offered "[t]he third-party stump speech we need". In his book The Price of Civilization (2011), 哥伦比亚大学 economist 傑佛瑞·薩克斯 called for the creation of a third U.S. party, an "Alliance for the Radical Center".

Insignia of the organization

While no independent radical-centrist presidential candidate emerged in 2012, John Avlon emphasized the fact that independent voters remain the fastest-growing portion of the electorate.

In late 2015, the organization, co-founded by Avlon, called a national "Problem Solver" convention to discuss how to best reduce political polarization and promote political solutions that could bridge the left-right divide. A lengthy article in The Atlantic about the convention conveys the views of leaders of a new generation of beyond-left-and-right (or both-left-and-right) organizations, including of Living Room Conversations, of Better Angels, of the National Institute for Civil Discourse and of the Institute for Cultural Evolution. Following the 2016年美國總統選舉, prominent U.S. commentator praised No Labels and other such groups and offered them advice, including this: "[D]eepen a positive national vision that is not merely a positioning between left and right".

By the mid-2010s, several exponents of radical centrism had run, albeit unsuccessfully, for seats in the 美国国会, including in California and Dave Anderson in Maryland.

According to a January 2018 article in 华盛顿邮报, West Virginia Senator 乔·曼钦 greeted newly elected Alabama Senator 道格·琼斯 (政治人物) with the phrase, "Welcome to the radical middle". Both senators have been regarded as moderate and bipartisan. In March 2018, the political newspaper 国会山报 ran an article by attorney entitled "The Time for Radical Centrism Has Come". It asserted that the jettisoned spending proposals favored by both political "extremes" in order to obtain votes of "principled moderates", and that its passage therefore represented a victory for what Senator 蘇珊·柯琳絲 (R-Maine) calls "radical centrism".

Toward the beginning of the 2020年美國總統選舉民主黨初選, Steven Teles of the , writing in 新共和, laid out a strategy by which a dark horse candidate appealing to the radical center could win the Democratic Party presidential nomination.

Criticism

Even before the 21st century, some observers were criticizing what they saw as radical centrism. In the 1960s, liberal political cartoonist employed the term "radical middle" to mock what he saw as the timid and pretentious outlook of the American political class. During the 1992年罗斯·佩罗竞选美国总统, conservative journalist suggested that a more appropriate term for the radical center might be the "snarling center". In a 1998 article entitled "The Radical Centre: A Politics Without Adversary", Belgian political theorist 尚塔尔·墨菲 argued that passionate and often bitter conflict between left and right is a necessary feature of any 民主.

Objections to policies, assumptions and attitudes

Liberal journalist , a notable critic of radical centrism

Some 21st-century commentators argue that radical centrist policies are not substantially different from conventional 中间主义 ideas. For example, liberal journalist says there already is a radical centrist party –"It's called the Democrats". He faults 's version of radical centrism for offering "feeble" policy solutions and indulging in wishful thinking about the motives of the political right. Progressive social theorist says that and 's book The Radical Center is too skeptical about the virtues of 工会 and too ardent about the virtues of the market.

Others contend that radical centrist policies lack clarity. For example, in 2001 journalist said that the think tank was neither liberal nor progressive and did not know what it was.

In 2017, in a 1,700-word article for entitled "Beware the Radical Center", Canadian writer Ryan Shah characterized radical centrism as a just-in-time "repackaging" of 新自由主義 meant to sustain the political, economic, and social status quo. He warned that political leaders such as Europe's 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙 and North America's 賈斯汀·杜魯多 were creating a false image of radical centrist programs as progressive, and urged leftists to develop "genuine" policy alternatives to neoliberalism such as those advocated by 工党 (英国) leader 傑瑞米·柯賓. Similarly, reports that some think Spain's radical centrist 公民－公民党 (Citizens) party is "encouraged by the Spanish establishment" in order to undercut the radical left and preserve the status quo.

湯馬斯·佛里曼's columns supporting radical centrism are a favorite target for bloggers

By contrast, some observers claim that radical centrist ideas are too different from mainstream policies to be viable. , the editor of 紐約時報書評, called the proposals in Halstead and Lind's book "utopian". According to Ed Kilgore, the policy director of the , 's Radical Middle book "ultimately places him in the sturdy tradition of 'idealistic' American reformers who think smart and principled people unencumbered by political constraints can change everything".

Some have suggested that radical centrists may be making false assumptions about their effectiveness or appeal. In the United States, for example, political analyst found that states adopting s, a favorite radical-centrist proposal, have been no more fiscally responsible than states without such commissions. In 2017, 经济学人 wondered whether Latin Americans really wanted to hear the "hard truths" about their societies that some radical centrists were offering them.

Radical centrist attitudes have also been criticized. For example, many 網誌gers have characterized 湯馬斯·佛里曼's columns on radical centrism as elitist and glib. In Australia, some think that Australian attorney – long an advocate of radical centrism – is in fact a "polarizing partisan". In 2012, conservative 以色列议会 member criticized Israel's radical center for lacking such attributes as courage, decisiveness, and realistic thinking.

Objections to strategies

Conservative journalist , who has criticized radical centrist strategy

Some observers question the wisdom of seeking consensus, or reconciliation in political life. Political scientist Jonathan Bernstein argues that American democratic theory from the time of 詹姆斯·麦迪逊's (1787) has been based on the acknowledgement of faction and the airing of debate, and he sees no reason to change now.

Other observers feel radical centrists are misreading the political situation. For example, conservative journalist says liberals and conservatives are not ideologically opposed to such radical centrist measures as limiting entitlements and raising taxes to cover national expenditures. Instead, voters are opposed to them and things will change when voters can be convinced otherwise.

The third-party strategy favored by many U.S. radical centrists has been criticized as impractical and diversionary. According to these critics, what is needed instead is (a) reform of the legislative process; and (b) candidates in existing political parties who will support radical centrist ideas. The specific third-party vehicle favored by many U.S. radical centrists in 2012 – – was criticized as an "elite-driven party" supported by a "dubious group of Wall Street multi-millionaires".

After spending time with a variety of radical centrists, Alec MacGillis of 新共和 concluded that their perspectives are so disparate that they could never come together to build a viable political organization.

Internal concerns

Some radical centrists are less than sanguine about their future. One concern is co-optation. For example, worries that the enthusiasm for the term radical center, on the part of "arbiters of the conventional wisdom", may signal a weakening of the radical vision implied by the term.

Another concern is passion. fears that some centrists cannot resist the lure of passionate partisans, whom he calls "". By contrast, worries that radical centrism, while "thoroughly sensible", lacks an "animating passion" – and claims there has never been a successful political movement without one.

Radical centrism as dialogue and process

2011 event

Some radical centrists, such as theorist , 調解 Mark Gerzon, and activist , see radical centrism as primarily a commitment to process. Their approach is to facilitate processes of 对话 among polarized people and groups, from the neighborhood level on up. A major goal is to enable dialogue participants to come up with new perspectives and solutions that can address every party's core interests. Onward Christian Athletes author Tom Krattenmaker speaks of the radical center as that (metaphoric) space where such dialogue and innovation can occur. Similarly, The Lipstick Proviso: Women, Sex, and Power in the Real World author Karen Lehrman Bloch speaks of the radical middle as a "common ground" where left and right can "nurture a saner society".

Organizations seeking to catalyze dialogue and innovation among diverse people and groups have included , , Everyday Democracy, Listening Project (North Carolina), Living Room Conversations, Public Conversations Project, , and Village Square. Organizations specifically for university students include BridgeUSA and . The city of 波特蘭 (俄勒岡州) has been characterized as "radical middle" in 今日美國 newspaper because many formerly antagonistic groups there are said to be talking to, learning from and working with one another.

In 2005, 大西洋 (雜誌) portrayed Egyptian Islamic cleric as the voice of an emergent form of radical Islam – "traditionalism without the extremism". In 2012, in an article entitled "The Radical Middle: Building Bridges Between the Muslim and Western Worlds, Gomaa shared his approach to the dialogic process:

The purpose of dialogue should not be to convert others, but rather to share with them one's principles. Sincere dialogue should strengthen one's faith while breaking down barriers. ... Dialogue is a process of exploration and coming to know the other, as much as it is an example of clarifying one's own positions. Therefore, when one dialogues with others, what is desired is to explore their ways of thinking, so as to correct misconceptions in our own minds and arrive at common ground.

In 2017, former 美式足球 player and 美國陸軍特種部隊 soldier suggested that his "radical middle" stance could help address the issues and resolve the controversy surrounding 美國國歌抗議活動 (2016年至今) at football games.

Further reading

Books from the 1990s

• Chickering, A. Lawrence (1993). Beyond Left and Right: Breaking the Political Stalemate. Institute for Contemporary Studies Press. ISBN 978-1-55815-209-0.
• Coyle, Diane (1997). The Weightless World: Strategies for Managing the Digital Economy. Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press. ISBN 978-0-262-03259-9.
• Esty, Daniel C.; Chertow, Marian, eds. (1997). Thinking Ecologically: The Next Generation of Ecological Policy. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-07303-4.
• Howard, Philip K. (1995). The Death of Common Sense: How Law Is Suffocating America. Random House. ISBN 978-0-679-42994-4.
• Penny, Tim; Garrett, Major (1998). The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-18294-6.
• Sider, Ronald J. (1999). Just Generosity: A New Vision for Overcoming Poverty in America. Baker Books. ISBN 978-0-8010-6613-9.
• Ventura, Jesse (2000). I Ain't Got Time to Bleed: Reworking the Body Politic from the Bottom Up. New York: Signet. ISBN 0451200861.
• Wolfe, Alan (1998). One Nation, After All: What Middle-Class Americans Really Think. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-87677-8.

Books from the 2000s

• Anderson, Walter Truett (2001). All Connected Now: Life in the First Global Civilization. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3937-5.
• Florida, Richard (2002). The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02476-6.
• Friedman, Thomas (2005). The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux. ISBN 0-374-29288-4
• Lukes, Steven (2009). The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat: A Novel of Ideas. Verso Books, 2nd ed. ISBN 978-1-84467-369-8.
• Miller, Matt (2009). The Tyranny of Dead Ideas: Letting Go of the Old Ways of Thinking to Unleash a New Prosperity. Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-9150-2.
• Penner, Rudolph; Sawhill, Isabel; Taylor, Timothy (2000). Updating America's Social Contract: Economic Growth and Opportunity in the New Century. W. W. Norton and Co., Chap. 1 ("An Agenda for the Radical Middle"). ISBN 978-0-393-97579-6.
• Ury, William (2000). The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-029634-1.
• Wexler, David B.; Winick, Bruce, eds. (2003). Judging in a Therapeutic Key: Therapeutic Justice and the Courts. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-89089-408-8.
• Whitman, Christine Todd (2005). It's My Party, Too: The Battle for the Heart of the GOP and the Future of America. The Penguin Press, Chap. 7 ("A Time for Radical Moderates"). ISBN 978-1-59420-040-3.

Books from the 2010s

• Brock, H. Woody (2012). American Gridlock: Why the Right and Left Are Both Wrong. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-63892-7.
• Clegg, Nick (2017). Politics: Between the Extremes, international edition. Vintage. ISBN 978-1-78470-416-2.
• Edwards, Mickey (2012). The Parties Versus the People: How to Turn Republicans and Democrats Into Americans. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-18456-3.
• Friedman, Thomas; Mandelbaum, Michael (2011). That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. Picador. ISBN 978-0374288907.
• Huntsman Jr., John, editor (2014). No Labels: A Shared Vision for a Stronger America. Diversion Books. ISBN 978-1-62681-237-6.
• Macron, Emmanuel (2017). Revolution. Scribe Publications. ISBN 978-1-925322-71-2.
• Orman, Greg (2016). A Declaration of Independents: How we Can Break the Two-Party Stranglehold and Restore the American Dream. Greenleaf Book Group Press. ISBN 978-1-62634-332-0.
• Pearson, Noel (2011). Up From the Mission: Selected Writings. Black Inc. 2nd ed. Part Four ("The Quest for a Radical Centre"). ISBN 978-1-86395-520-1.
• Salit, Jacqueline S. (2012). Independents Rising: Outsider Movements, Third Parties, and the Struggle for a Post-Partisan America. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-33912-5.
• Trudeau, Justin (2015). Common Ground. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-1-4434-3338-9.
• Whelan, Charles (2013). The Centrist Manifesto. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0-393-34687-9.
• White, Courtney (2017). Grassroots: The Rise of the Radical Center and The Next West. Dog Ear Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4575-5431-5.

Manifestos

• "Road to Generational Equity" – , , and (1995). Retrieved 2 October 2012.
• "An Invitation to Join the Radical Center" – , Courtney White, and 18 others (2003). Retrieved 24 October 2017.
• "Ground Rules of Civil Society: A Radical Centrist Manifesto" – Ernest Prabhakar (2003). Retrieved 6 January 2019.
• "The Cape York Agenda" – (2005). Retrieved 17 January 2016.
• "Ten Big Ideas for a New America" – (2007). Retrieved 25 July 2018.
• "The Liberal Moment" – 尼克·克萊格 (2009). Retrieved 2 October 2012.
• "Depolarizing the American Mind" – and Carter Phipps (2014). Retrieved 31 December 2016.
• "An Ecomodernist Manifesto" – and 17 others (2015). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
• "Real Change" – 加拿大自由党 platform under 賈斯汀·杜魯多 (2015). Retrieved 20 October 2017.
• "Radix: Think Tank for the Radical Centre" – and others (2016). Retrieved 26 January 2019.
• "Rough Guide to Manifesto of Macron" – 埃马纽埃尔·马克龙, edited by 路透社 (2017). Retrieved 15 October 2017.
• "Unlocking the Climate Puzzle" – for the Climate Leadership Council (2017). Retrieved 25 July 2018.
• "California for All" – (2018). Retrieved 12 August 2018.
• "The Center Can Hold: Public Policy for an Age of Extremes" – (2018). Retrieved 26 January 2019.

External links

Organizations

• Cape York Institute – Australian think tank
• Demos – U.K. think tank
• New America – U.S. think tank
• No Labels – U.S. political group
• Search for Common Ground – global dialogues

Opinion websites

• John Avlon: Featured Columns –
• Matt Miller: The Archives –
• Michael Lind articles –
• Radical Middle Newsletter –

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