# Political syncretism

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{{short description|Politics combining elements from across the left–right spectrum}}
{{about|the politics outside the conventional spectrum|other uses|Third Way (disambiguation)}}
{{Party politics|political spectrum}}
'''Political syncretism''', or '''syncretic politics''', combine elements from across the conventional [left–right political spectrum](/source/left%E2%80%93right_political_spectrum). The main idea of [syncretic](/source/Syncretism) politics is that taking political positions of [neutrality](/source/Neutrality_(philosophy)) by combining elements associated with [left-wing politics](/source/left-wing_politics) and [right-wing politics](/source/right-wing_politics) can achieve a goal of [reconciliation](/source/Conflict_resolution).<ref>{{cite book|last=Griffin|first=Roger|title=Fascism|type=paperback|edition=second printing|series=Oxford readers|date=1995|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0192892492|pages=8, 307}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kallis|first=Aristotle A.|title=The Fascism Reader|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415243599|page=71}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Blamires|first=Cyprian|title=World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia|year=2006|type=hardcover|edition=5|publisher=ABC-CLIO|location=Santa Barbara, CA|isbn=978-1576079409|pages=14, 561}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Bastow|first1=Steve|last2=Martin|first2=James|year=2003|title=Third Way Discourse|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=978-0748615612|page=2|quote=However, what is often missed in many of these discussions is an awareness of the variety of ideologies of the third way that span the twentieth century and traverse the spectrum from left to right.}}</ref>

Political syncretism is also referred to as [catch-all politics](/source/catch-all_politics), and syncretism is characterized by vague positioning on the political spectrum. Syncretic parties exhibit very high levels of ideological adaptability and flexibility, constantly switching positions and modifying their stances in order to broaden their electorate, without a consolidated commitment to concrete ideologies and political tradition.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2020/02/19/syncretic-populism-in-contemporary-21st-century-european-politics/ |title='Syncretic' Populism in Contemporary 21st Century European Politics |date=19 February 2020 |website=Radical Right Analysis}}</ref> Political scientist Gilda Sensales argues that political syncretism is relatively rare, and should only be applied to parties and movements that lack programmatic content and which intentionally create ideological ambiguity to attract support.<ref>{{cite book |title=Political Psychology Perspectives on Populism |page=28 |first=Gilda |last=Sensales |issn=2946-2606 |isbn=978-3-031-44073-1 |publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland AG |year=2024 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-44073-1 |series=Palgrave Studies in Political Psychology}}</ref>

== Historical examples ==

=== Spain ===
The [Falange](/source/Falange_Espa%C3%B1ola_de_las_JONS) of [Spain](/source/Spain), while allied with the nationalist right side during the [Spanish Civil War](/source/Spanish_Civil_War) and being widely considered to be [far right](/source/far_right),<ref>Rodney P. Carlisle (general editor). ''The Encyclopedia of Politics: The Left and the Right, Volume 2: The Right''. Thousand Oaks, California, USA; London, England, UK; New Delhi, India: Sage Publications, 2005. Pp. 633.</ref> presented itself definitively as syncretic.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fernandez|first=Paloma Aguilar|title=Memory in Amnesia: The Role of the Spanish Civil War in the Transition to Democracy|type=hardcover|date=August 2002 |publisher=Berghahn Books|location=Oxford; New York|isbn=978-1571817570}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=December 2024}} [Falangism](/source/Falangism) has attacked both the left and the right as its "enemies", declaring itself to be neither left nor right, but a [Third Position](/source/Third_Position).<ref>{{cite book|last=Griffin|first=Roger |title=Fascism |type=paperback|edition=second printing|series=Oxford readers|date=1995|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0192892492|page=189}}</ref>

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, the emergence of [New Labour](/source/New_Labour) under [Tony Blair](/source/Tony_Blair) and [Gordon Brown](/source/Gordon_Brown) was a pitch for the [Third Way](/source/Third_Way), mixing [neoliberal](/source/neoliberal) economic policies, such as banking privatization, with [socially progressive](/source/socially_progressive) policies.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/may/08/leaders.labour|title=Leader: Blair's new third way|newspaper=the Guardian|date=2005-05-08}}</ref><ref name="bbc07">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/298465.stm|title=BBC News — UK Politics — All aboard the Third Way|work=BBC News}}</ref>

=== United States ===
In the United States, [Third Way](/source/Third_Way) adherents embrace [fiscal conservatism](/source/fiscal_conservatism) to a greater extent than traditional [social liberals](/source/social_liberals) and advocate some replacement of [welfare](/source/Welfare_(financial_aid)) with [workfare](/source/workfare), and sometimes have a stronger preference for [market](/source/Market_(economics)) solutions to traditional problems (as in [pollution market](/source/pollution_market)s), while rejecting pure ''[laissez-faire](/source/laissez-faire)'' economics and other [right-libertarian](/source/right-libertarian) positions. This style of governing was firmly adopted and partly redefined during the [administration](/source/Clinton_Administration) of [President](/source/President_of_the_United_States) [Bill Clinton](/source/Bill_Clinton).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House|url=https://archive.org/details/survivorbillclin00harr|url-access=registration|last=Harris|first=John F.|publisher=Random House|year=2005|isbn=9780375508479 }}</ref> Political scientist [Stephen Skowronek](/source/Stephen_Skowronek) introduced the term "Third Way" into the interpretation of American presidential politics.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Politics Presidents Make|last=Skowronek|first=Stephen|year=1993|publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=0-674-68937-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.unm.edu/~pre/law/articles_advise/PolSci_Overlooked.htm|title=An Overlooked Theory on Presidential Politics|last=Valelly|first=Rick|work=unm.edu|date=31 March 2003|access-date=19 April 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160225221559/http://www.unm.edu/~pre/law/articles_advise/PolSci_Overlooked.htm|archive-date=25 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/11/23/regime_change/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040408081006/http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2003/11/23/regime_change/|url-status=dead|archive-date=April 8, 2004|title=Regime change|last=Shea|first=Christopher|work=boston.com|date=23 March 2003|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref> Such presidents undermine the opposition by borrowing policies from it in an effort to seize the middle and with it to achieve political dominance. This technique is known as [triangulation](/source/Triangulation_(politics)) and was used by Bill Clinton and other [New Democrats](/source/New_Democrats_(United_States)) who sought to move beyond the party's [New Deal](/source/New_Deal) [liberalism](/source/Liberalism_in_the_United_States) reputation in response to the political realignment of the 1980s. Through this strategy, Clinton adopted themes associated with the [Republican Party](/source/Republican_Party_(United_States)), such as fiscal conservatism, [welfare reform](/source/welfare_reform), [deregulation](/source/deregulation) and [law and order](/source/Law_and_order_(politics)) policies. Famously, he declared in the [1996 State of the Union Address](/source/1996_State_of_the_Union_Address) that "the era of big government is over".<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/29/us/politics/29sanger.html|work=The New York Times|title=Where Clinton Turned Right, Obama Plowed Ahead|first=David E.|last=Sanger|date=29 January 2010|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

== Other examples ==
* [Crusade of Romanianism](/source/Crusade_of_Romanianism),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sunshine|first=Spencer|date=Winter 2008|title=Rebranding Fascism: National-Anarchists|url=http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v23n4/rebranding_fascism.html}}</ref> Romania (1934–1937)
* [Five Star Movement](/source/Five_Star_Movement),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Downes |first=James |date=19 February 2020 |title='Syncretic' Populism in Contemporary 21st Century European Politics |work=Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right |url=https://www.radicalrightanalysis.com/2020/02/19/syncretic-populism-in-contemporary-21st-century-european-politics/ |access-date=1 February 2023}}</ref> Italy
* [LMP – Hungary's Green Party](/source/LMP_%E2%80%93_Hungary's_Green_Party),<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zrt|first=HVG Kiadó|date=2014-01-15|title=Elek István: Igen, a remény hal meg utoljára|url=https://hvg.hu/velemeny/20140115_Elek_LMP_remeny|access-date=2021-07-01|website=hvg.hu|language=hu}}</ref> Hungary
* [National Bolshevik Party](/source/National_Bolshevik_Party),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Borenstein|first=Eliot|date=2004|title=Review of National Bolshevism: Stalinist Mass Culture and the Formation of Modern Russian National Identity, 1931-1956|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3220080|journal=The Slavic and East European Journal|volume=48|issue=3|pages=497–499|jstor=3220080 |issn=0037-6752}}</ref> Russia (1993–2007)
* [National Union for Social Justice](/source/National_Union_for_Social_Justice_(organization)),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=Paul|url=https://brill.com/view/book/edcoll/9789004282285/B9789004282285-s012.xml|title=James Strachey Barnes and the Fascist Revolution: Catholicism, Anti-Semitism and the International New Order|date=2015-01-01|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-28228-5|language=en}}</ref> United States (1934–1936)
* [Partido Demokratiko Pilipino](/source/Partido_Demokratiko_Pilipino),<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781003121565 |title=Dictionary of the Modern Politics of Southeast Asia |date=2022 |last1=Liow |first1=Joseph Chinyong |isbn=978-1-003-12156-5 |chapter=Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) (Philippines) |pages=359–390 }}</ref> Philippines
* [People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia](/source/People's_Party_%E2%80%93_Movement_for_a_Democratic_Slovakia),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Trencsényi |first1=Balázs |title=A History of Modern Political Thought in East Central Europe. Volume 2 Part 2: Negotiating Modernity in the "Short Twentieth Century" and Beyond 1968–2018 / Balázs Trencsényi, Michal Kopeček, Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič, Maria Falina, Mónika Baár, and Maciej Janowski |last2=Kopeček |first2=Michal |last3=Gabrijelčič |first3=Luka Lisjak |last4=Falina |first4=Maria |last5=Baár |first5=Monika |last6=Janowski |first6=Maciej |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780198829607 |edition=First |location=Oxford |page=251}}</ref> Slovakia
* [Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance](/source/Sahra_Wagenknecht_Alliance),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Holzhauser |first1=Thorsten |title=Nicht links oder rechts, sondern beides? Das Bündnis Sahra Wagenknecht nach der Europawahl |date=2024 |publisher=Ifri |location=Paris |isbn=979-10-373-0886-3 |url=https://www.ifri.org/sites/default/files/migrated_files/documents/atoms/files/t._holzhauser_bundnis_wagenknecht_europawahl_2024_juillet_2024.pdf |access-date=27 July 2024}}</ref> Germany
* [Social Democratic Party](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_(Romania)),<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-12-12|title=Pragmatism is a winner for Romanian Left|url=https://www.politico.eu/article/pragmatism-is-a-winner-for-romanian-left-social-democrats-psd-corruption-scandal-liviu-dragnea-victor-ponta-elections/|access-date=2021-07-01|website=POLITICO|language=en-US}}</ref> Romania
* [Syrian Social Nationalist Party](/source/Syrian_Social_Nationalist_Party),<ref>{{cite book |title=In Search of Greater Syria: The History and Politics of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party |first=Christopher |last=Solomon |publisher=I. B. Tauris |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-8386-0642-8 |page=43 |quote="During the Lebanese Civil War, the SSNP transitioned over to the left. It adopted a heightened anti-imperialist character and aligned itself with the leftwing nationalist Baath Party. In addition, the party looks to create a secular environment that empowers women and the desires to end sectarianism. However, it is spectral-syncretic politics that could perhaps describe the party’s outlook today. The SSNP does not tend to identify with either the right or the left. Nationalism and self-determination are still key elements, along with a sense of community and shared responsibilities."}}</ref> Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine
* [Social Credit Party of Canada](/source/Social_Credit_Party_of_Canada) (1935–1993)

== See also ==
* [Georgism](/source/Georgism)
* [Freiwirtschaft](/source/Freiwirtschaft)
* [Horseshoe theory](/source/Horseshoe_theory)
* [LaRouche movement](/source/LaRouche_movement)
* [Left-conservatism](/source/Left-conservatism)
* [National Bolshevism](/source/National_Bolshevism)
* [Nazi-Maoism](/source/Nazi-Maoism)
* [Third Position](/source/Third_Position)

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syncretic Politics}}
Category:Syncretic political movements

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Political syncretism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_syncretism) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_syncretism?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.