{{Short description|Rejection of radical or extreme political views}} {{party politics}} {{About|the rejection of radical politics|the Spanish liberal ideology|Moderantism}}
'''Moderate''' is an [[ideological]] category which designates a rejection of [[radical politics|radical]] or [[extremism|extreme]] views, especially in regard to [[politics]] and [[religion]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Alex P.|last=Schmid|year=2013|title=Radicalisation, De-Radicalisation, Counter-Radicalisation: A Conceptual Discussion and Literature Review|journal=Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Studies|publisher=The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism|volume=4|number=2|doi=10.19165/2013.1.02|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Types of social movements|access-date=January 10, 2020|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/social-movement/Types-of-social-movements|quote=Social movements may also be categorized on the basis of the general character of their strategy and tactics; for instance, whether they are legitimate or underground. The popular distinction between radical and moderate movements reflects this sort of categorization.}}</ref> In American politics, "moderate" is an [[ideological]] category which entails [[Centrism by country#United States|centrist views]] on a [[Modern liberalism in the United States|liberal]]–[[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] spectrum.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Fowler |first1=Anthony |last2=Hill |first2=Seth J. |last3=Lewis |first3=Jeffrey B. |last4=Tausanovitch |first4=Chris |last5=Vavreck |first5=Lynn |last6=Warshaw |first6=Christopher |date=2023 |title=Moderates |journal=American Political Science Review |language=en |volume=117 |issue=2 |pages=643–660 |doi=10.1017/S0003055422000818 |issn=0003-0554|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Broockman |first1=David E. |last2=Lauderdale |first2=Benjamin E. |date=2025 |title="Moderates" |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/moderates/4C8917D91FCFD7ECA74E5D2DB5C741FE |journal=American Political Science Review |pages=1–10 |language=en |doi=10.1017/S0003055424001333 |issn=0003-0554|url-access=subscription |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Political position == {{See also|Centrism}}
=== Canada === At the federal level in Canada as of 2024, there are five active political parties who have seats in the [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]], for which most of them have a wide range of goals and political opinions, that differ between each others. Per definition, where "political moderate" is used, in a specific context to being far conservative, the [[Conservative Party of Canada]] could be used as a representation. However, we can now see that those beliefs might contain "inverted" or different effects-opinions. If we could measure them from a "political spectrum" point of view, the variations for instance, [[conservatism]], who tend to be defined in the same way toward being resistant with the idea of future changes, is not always the case.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
In parallel, [[liberalism]], as to the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] could also include different versions to quantify, or "weight" the possible outcomes of the most distant paramount. For example, [[Canadians]] citizens are protected by law, and free of action or speech, defined by the [[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms|Canadian Charter of Rights]], and from that same consideration, one, must not surpass or challenge to act against that same charter. From there we should perceive that even inside the epicenter of a "liberal mechanism" or political parties, in many cases there are still forms of hierarchical, composable or modular sets of rules or policies as basics threshold. Moreover, political moderate, aim to be scrupulous during an individual said state of affairs, resolving with actual information's or data, to determine the best scenario possible, within the available choices, at that moment in time.{{Citation needed|date=January 2026}}
=== Japan === Japan's right-wing [[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) has traditionally been divided into two main factions: the based on bureaucratic "conservative mainstream" (保守本流) and the hawkish nationalist "conservative anti-mainstream" (保守傍流). Among them, "conservative mainstream" is also considered a moderate wing within the LDP. The LDP's former faction ''[[Kōchikai]]'' is considered a moderate wing.<ref>Karol Zakowski, ed. (2011). [https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001622539 ''Kōchikai of the Japanese Liberal Democratic Party and Its Evolution After the Cold War''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119235932/https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART001622539 |date=2022-11-19 }}. [[Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information]].</ref> The current LDP has conflicts between moderate patriotist and [[Ultranationalism|extreme nationalist]] supporters.<ref>{{cite news |last=Putz |first=Catherine |title=Jennifer Lind on Abe Shinzo and Japanese Nationalism |url=https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/jennifer-lind-on-abe-shinzo-and-japanese-nationalism/ |access-date=20 November 2022 |work=[[The Diplomat (magazine)|The Diplomat]] |date=1 September 2022 |archive-date=19 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119235930/https://thediplomat.com/2022/08/jennifer-lind-on-abe-shinzo-and-japanese-nationalism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
The [[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)|Democratic Socialist Party]] (DSP) was formed by a group of politicians who splintered off of the [[Japan Socialist Party]] (JSP) in 1960. The party advocated a moderate social-democratic politics and supported the [[U.S.-Japan Alliance]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1=Jeffrey Kopstein |editor2=Mark Lichbach |editor3=[[Stephen E. Hanson]]= |title=Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order |date=2014 |page=192 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=9780521135740 }}</ref> The party started to slowly support [[neoliberalism]] from the 1980s, and was disbanded in 1994.<ref name="及川(2019)">{{Cite book|author=及川智洋 |title=戦後革新勢力の対立と分裂 |chapter=第5章 第3節 民社党－－－社会党から分裂した社民主義政党が、反共の新自由主義政党へ |series=法政大学 博士論文(政治学) 32675甲第451号 |date=March 2019 |publisher=法政大学 (Hosei University) |doi=10.15002/00021756 |url=https://doi.org/10.15002/00021756}}</ref>
[[Right Socialist Party of Japan|Moderate social democrats]] of the JSP formed the [[Democratic Party of Japan]] (DPJ) with conservative-liberal [[New Party Sakigake|Sakigake]] and other moderates of the LDP.<ref>{{cite book|editor=Takashi Oka |title=Policy Entrepreneurship and Elections in Japan: A Political Biography of Ozawa Ichirō |date=2011 |page=64 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781136728648 }}</ref> Most of the DPJ's mainstream factions moved to the [[Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan]] (CDP), but the former DPJ's right-wing moved to the [[Democratic Party for the People]] after 2019.<ref>{{cite news |last=Spremberg |first=Felix |title=How Japan's Left is repeating its unfortunate history |url=https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy/how-japans-left-is-repeating-its-unfortunate-history-4819/ |access-date=20 November 2022 |work=International Politics & Society Journal |date=25 November 2020 |archive-date=6 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506150234/https://www.ips-journal.eu/topics/democracy/how-japans-left-is-repeating-its-unfortunate-history-4819/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
=== United States === [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] polling indicates that American voters identified as moderate between 35 and 38% of the time during the 1990s and 2000s.<ref name="saad">{{cite web|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/152021/Conservatives-Remain-Largest-Ideological-Group.aspx|title=Conservatives Remain the Largest Ideological Group in U.S.|last=Saad|first=Lydia|date=January 12, 2012|publisher=[[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]]|access-date=20 November 2012|archive-date=13 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113015255/http://www.gallup.com/poll/152021/Conservatives-Remain-Largest-Ideological-Group.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Voters may identify with moderation for a number of reasons: pragmatic, ideological, or otherwise; however, the number of people that vote for centrist political parties is a statistical anomaly, in part due to the entrenched nature of the country's [[two-party system]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Probabilistic Voting and the Importance of Centrist Ideologies in Democratic elections|author=Enelow and Hinich|year=1984|journal=[[The Journal of Politics]]|volume=46|issue = 2|pages=459–478|publisher=Southern Political Science Association|jstor = 2130970|doi=10.2307/2130970|s2cid=153540693 }}</ref>
Scholars have debated to what extent moderate political views result in greater electability. According to a 2020 study, moderates have historically performed better in American elections. However, the study finds, "this gap has disappeared in recent years, where moderates and ideologically extreme candidates are equally likely to be elected."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Utych |first=Stephen M. |date=2020 |title=Man Bites Blue Dog: Are Moderates Really More Electable than Ideologues? |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/706054 |journal=The Journal of Politics |volume=82 |issue=1 |pages=392–396 |doi=10.1086/706054 |issn=0022-3816|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
According to a 2026 study, "across a wide range of issues, most Americans appear to have moderate preferences over policy. As expected, Democrats tend to be more liberal than Republicans, but there is significant overlap on every issue, and the average extent of disagreement is modest."<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Fowler |first=Anthony |date=2026 |title=Reassessing Extremism, Polarization, and Constraint with Continuous Policy Questions |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-025-10111-w |journal=Political Behavior |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11109-025-10111-w |issn=1573-6687|doi-access=free }}</ref>
== See also == {{div col}} * [[Blairism]] * [[Brownism]] * [[Centrism]] * [[Centre-left politics]] * [[Centre-right politics]] * [[Independent voter]] * [[Median voter theorem]] * [[New Democrats (United States)|Moderate Democrats]] * [[Moderate conservatism]] * [[Moderate Party (disambiguation)]] * [[Moderate Republicans (modern United States)]] * [[New Labour]] * [[New Democrats (United States)|New Democrats]] * [[No Labels]] * [[Radical centrism]] * [[The Establishment]] {{div col end}}
== References == '''Notes''' {{reflist|}}
'''Bibliography''' * {{Citation |title=Ideology and Social Psychology: Extremism, Moderation, and Contradiction |first=Robert McCluer |last=Calhoon |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-521-73416-5 |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
==External links== *{{wiktionary-inline|moderate}}
[[Category:Centrism]] [[Category:Political terminology]]