The terms radical center or radical middle describe a type of third way philosophy as well as an associated political movement. Followers of this philosophy claim to improve understanding by simultaneously affirming both sides of apparently contradictory issues, whether that be disagreement amongst Left-Right politics or other disagreement or dilemmas. Third way can refer to: The Third Way, an economic and political idea that positions itself between democratic socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, combining the ordoliberal social market with neo-liberalism. ... For other uses, see Philosophy (disambiguation). ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Left-Right politics or the Left-Right political spectrum is a common way of classifying political positions, political ideologies, or political parties along a one-dimensional political spectrum. ... Look up Dilemma in Wiktionary, the free dictionary A dilemma is a problem offering two solutions, neither of which is acceptable. ...

Philosophy

Various groups have adopted "radical center" as a term to describe a third way philosophy which includes their belief that, in affirming the core principles involved on both sides of a dilemma, the dilemma or disagreement can be rendered moot. Third way can refer to: The Third Way, an economic and political idea that positions itself between democratic socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, combining the ordoliberal social market with neo-liberalism. ... This article is about the law term moot. ...

The terms Radical Center and Radical Middle are often used interchangeably, although the former more often refers to a political movement or current and the latter to a political philosophy. The latter use reflects an emphasis on epistemic virtue, by resolving false dilemmas -- i.e., finding the excluded middle. Critics argue that this can easily result in the logical fallacy of false compromise. The epistemic virtues, as identified by virtue epistemologists, reflect their contention that belief is an ethical process, and thus susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of ones thought life. ... The form of the fallacy of false dichotomy as an argument map with the conclusion at the top of the tree. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Fallacy. ... A false compromise (also known as the gray fallacy) is a logical fallacy: X and Y are opposite alternatives. ...

Politics

The political application of radical center philosophy is represented by a cluster of loosely related terms and movements: radical middle, radical centrist, responsive communitarian, third-way, etc. As a relatively grass-roots movement, especially in the United States, there is no definitive statement of radical middle politics. A primary recurring theme, however, might be the idea of "sustainably improving choices." This is reflected in the goals of various radical centrist groups, which they describe using language such as: Communitarianism as a philosophy began in the late 20th century, opposing aspects of liberalism and capitalism while advocating phenomena such as civil society. ... Grassroots democracy is the political processes which are driven by groups of ordinary citizens, as opposed to larger organisations or wealthy individuals with concentrated vested interests in particular policies. ...

• Maximize citizen choice, individual empowerment, and overall human potential
• Facilitate greater involvement in the political process (e.g., through referendums)
• Being of concrete help to those in the developing world
• Emphasize epistemic virtue, so that politics are grounded in objective reality
• Build character by promoting conscious moral choices
• Expand community by people creating value for each other in reciprocal relationships
• Possess a foundation of traditional values and Common sense
• Enlibra, which presents itself as the productive middle approach to environmentalism

Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A referendum (plural: referendums or referenda) or plebiscite (from Latin plebiscita, originally a decree of the Concilium Plebis) is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. ... For the Jamaican reggae band, see Third World (band). ... The epistemic virtues, as identified by virtue epistemologists, reflect their contention that belief is an ethical process, and thus susceptible to the intellectual virtue or vice of ones thought life. ... The objective reality is reality which does not depend on our existence and the way of performing observations. ... A moral is a one sentence remark made at the end of many childrens stories that expresses the intended meaning, or the moral message, of the tale. ... A community is a social group of organisms sharing an environment, normally with shared interests. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... This article is about the moral concept. ... For other uses, see Common sense (disambiguation). ... Enlibra is a new term (from the Latin word for balance) created by the Western Governors Association to describe their approach to environmental stewardship. ... For the psychology topic, see Environmental psychology. ...

History of the terms

While the term radical center has been used in various ways since at least the 1970s, it first had a major influence in the 1990s due to the Reform Party and Ross Perot, who were frequently described as representing the radical middle due to their attempts to partisanize those portions of the American electorate. Despite a strong showing in the 1996 U.S. presidential election, the Reform Party is nowadays not generally perceived as a major player in national politics, though they have impacted state elections -- notably with their Jesse Ventura becoming governor of Minnesota. The Reform Party of the United States of America (abbreviated Reform Party USA or RPUSA) is a political party in the United States, founded by Ross Perot in 1995 who said Americans were disillusioned with the state of politics – as being corrupt and unable to deal with vital issues – and... H. Ross Perot (born June 27, 1930) is an American businessman from Texas, who is best known for seeking the office of President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. ... Look up Partisan (political) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary In politics, a partisan is a person who supports a cause, party, or goal fervently, usually to the exclusion of all others. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos on July 15, 1951), also known as The Body, The Star, Governor Turnbuckle, and The Governing Body, is an American politician, retired professional wrestler, Navy UDT veteran, actor, and former radio and television talk show host. ...

Today, the term radical center is most commonly associated with a movement that does not explicitly claim descent from the Reform Party or its ideas, but rather draws its inspiration from the book The Third Way by Anthony Giddens (1998) and Giddens's highly-regarded follow-up book The Third Way and Its Critics (2000). In the U.S. third way politics is most actively represented by the New America Foundation and its book by Ted Halstead and Michael Lind, The Radical Center (2001). Subsequent introductions to radical centrist politics include, most notably, Matthew Miller's book The Two Percent Solution (2003) and Mark Satin's book Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now (2004). (Interestingly, Lind was once a promising young conservative, Miller was once an aide in President Clinton's White House, and Satin was a co-author of the U.S. Green Party's founding document from the 1980s, "Ten Key Values.") The definitive history of "Centrism" in America, and probably the best-selling radical centrist book to date, is John Avlon's Independent Nation (2004, pbk. 2005). Image needed Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born January 18, 1938) is a British sociologist who is renowned for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. ... Third way can refer to: The Third Way, an economic and political idea that positions itself between democratic socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, combining the ordoliberal social market with neo-liberalism. ... The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank located in Washington, D.C. that promotes innovative political solutions transcending conventional party lines -- what they call radical centrist politics. ... Ted Halstead is the founder and president of the New America Foundation and the co-author, with Michael Lind, of The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics. ... Michael Lind is an American journalist and historian, currently the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. ... Matthew Miller is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a monthly columnist for Fortune (magazine) and the author of The Two Percent Solution (ISBN 1586482890). ... Mark Satin fielding a question at the Fall for the Book Literary Festival, Fairfax, VA, USA, September 21, 2004 – photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt Mark Satin (born November 16, 1946) is a U.S. lawyer and editor of the online political periodical Radical Middle Newsletter. ... In American politics, the Green Party is a third party which has been active in some areas since the 1980s, but first gained widespread public attention for Ralph Naders presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. ... This article is about the American political party, Green Party. ... John P. Avlon (b. ...

In 1955, Geoffrey Crowther, then editor of the UK publication The Economist, declared, "It is to the Radicals that The Economist still likes to think of itself as belonging. The extreme centre is the paper's historical position."[1] The Economist is a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd and edited in London, UK. It has been in continuous publication since September 1843. ...

The alternative term radical middle appears to have been spontaneously invented by several different communities around the turn of the millennium, apparently in response to frustration with the violence of extremism and tepidness of temperance. An early use appears to be from Gordon Fee's kingdom theology course at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in the 1970s, which helped inspire the Vineyard Movement. He used the term radical middle to contrast the evangelical focus on the future kingdom of God with the Pentecostal emphasis on the present kingdom of God. But the first known use of the term "radical middle" was by Jules Feiffer in a comic strip that appears in Hold Me!, a collection published by Random House in 1962. Extremism is a term used to describe the actions or ideologies of individuals or groups outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common standards of ethics and reciprocity. ... Look up Moderation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Gordon Fee is a New Testament scholar who, after teaching briefly at Wheaton College in Illinois, has for many years taught at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts until 1986. ... Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (GCTS) is an interdenominational evangelical theological seminary in the United States. ... The Vineyard Movement is a combination renewal and church planting movement which can also be considered a Christian denomination. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      The word evangelicalism often refers to... The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. ... Jules Feiffer (1958) Jules Feiffer (born January 26, 1929) is an American syndicated comic-strip cartoonist and author. ... // Random House is a publishing house based in New York City. ...

Positioning

Radical centrists are related to what is sometimes called the Vital Center in American politics, and similarly claim to be drawing on the best of both sides. However, they differ significantly from traditional centrism, which prides itself on moderation and seeking political consensus amongst the parties; radical centrists, for example, are quite radical and populist in their stated policies. Radical centrists also can be divisive, as opposed to the non-partisan approach of traditional centrism. This leads to many moderates questioning whether radical centrism deserves to be called centrist at all (perhaps analogous to how the Left and Right often distance themselves from their respective radical wings). For their part, radical centrists are quick to dissociate themselves from traditional moderates, whom they often contrast as the "sensible center", or deride as the "squishy center." In politics in the United States, the Vital Center is a term used to describe where the Presidential nominees of the two major political parties go to look for votes, traditionally after they have wrapped up their own partys nomination at the party convention. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... “Moderates” redirects here. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... “Political Parties” redirects here. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Populism is a political ideology or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, which exists only to serve its own interests, and therefore, the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and instead used for the... Partisan may refer to: A member of a lightly-equipped irregular military force formed to oppose control of an area by a foreign power or by an army of occupation. ... “Leftism” redirects here. ... “Right wing” redirects here. ...

Radical centrists can be found in both left-wing and right-wing political parties, but (like other centrists and independents) are usually penalized for being out of step with that party's dominant ideology. This leads to tension between what might be called separatist factions, who want to shed an unhelpful party label in order to run as independents, and puritans who want to reform (or take over) the party from within. This tension is particularly acute in countries with strong two-party traditions, since it is difficult for third-party candidates to win office or create governable coalitions absent significant electoral reform. Electoral reform projects seek to change the way that public desires are reflected in elections through electoral systems. ...

Radical centrists see themselves as building majority consensus for radical reforms by sidestepping (or confronting) what they consider the obsolete, polarized and non-productive ideologies of Right (social conservatism/economic liberalism) and Left (social liberalism/economic progressivism). Radical centrists assert that their principles represent the fusion of the best aspects of Conservatism and Liberalism, and thus interpolate at the level of philosophy rather than policy. They claim these ideological moorings (the 'root' behind their sociological use of the term 'radical') provide the basis for their critique of society, government and other political movements. Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Left-Right politics or the Left-Right political spectrum is a common way of classifying political positions, political ideologies, or political parties along a one-dimensional political spectrum. ... Social conservatism generally refers to a political ideology or personal belief system that advocates the conservation or resurrection of what one, or ones community, considers to be traditional morality and social structure. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Social liberalism is either a synonym for new liberalism or a label used by progressive liberal parties in order to differentiate themselves from the more conservative liberal parties, especially when there are two or more liberal parties in a country. ... Economic Progressivism is a political Economic Ideology. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Politics is the process and method of decision-making for groups of human beings. ...

Michael Lind, in his 1996 publication Up From Conservatism, writes that, though American radical centrism is today a minority political philosophy, it was, in fact, the dominant political philosophy within the United States from the time of FDR through Lyndon Johnson—a philosophy that was shared both by the presidents of that era (FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ) and the majority of the American people. Therefore, Lind argues, the American "radical" centrism of today is simply the adamant pursuit for a return to the once-mainstream political principle of New Deal economic progressivism coupled with a moderate cultural conservatism. This modest cultural conservatism would be exemplified on the political stage simply by the "radical centrist" politician's refusal to politicize or advocate socially-liberal issues like abortion or gay rights. However, the radical centrist politician might spurn any influence or pressure coming from the Religious Right and other socially-conservative groups (i.e. pro-life advocates, prayer-in-school advocates, etc.) Michael Lind is an American journalist and historian, currently the Whitehead Senior Fellow at the New America Foundation. ... Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908–January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, was an American politician. ... For other persons named Harry Truman, see Harry Truman (disambiguation). ... Dwight David Eisenhower (October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American General and politician, who served as the thirty-fourth President of the United States (1953–1961). ... JFK redirects here. ... “LBJ” redirects here. ... The New Deal was the title President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to the series of programs he initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform (3 Rs) to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article is about the social movement. ...

Organizations

• Reform Party USA, founded by Ross Perot, was said to have appealed to the radical center, because it found that both the Democrats and Republicans were unable to address real issues because of both left-right partisanship and corruption. The platform compromised on traditional issues of both parties, ignores social issues, pushes an agenda of government reform, and calls for some referendums. Some people feel this centrist position had been compromised since Pat Buchanan entered the party for his 2000 presidential bid, and a harder stance on immigration has been added
• The Independence Party of Minnesota, the Radical Centrist third party in Minnesota.
• The Centrist Party, The Centrist Party of the United States of America
• Centrerion: Canadian Politics, a centrist group blog discussing Canadian federal politics, foreign affairs, and economics
• Centrist Coalition, an active online group with a blog and forum
• Centrists.org, public policy think tank
• Independent Nation, home base for John Avlon, author of the book Independent Nation: How the Vital Center Is Changing American Politics (2004)
• New America Foundation, think tank founded by Ted Halstead and Michael Lind, authors of the book The Radical Center (2001)
• Politics of Trust Network, founded by John Vasconcellos
• Radical Center American Party, not quite a political party, for now it is just a website with some political thoughts and some links to other Radical Center sites and thought. It even has its own Wiki for you to contribute to American Radical Center thought and political-party evolution
• Radical Middle Newsletter, online periodical edited by Mark Satin
• RadicalCentrism.org, founded by Ernest Prabhakar
• Search for Common Ground, works to help parties achieve "societal conflict transformation" in hotspots all over the world
• The Radical Middle Way, young British Muslims trying to consolidate a mainstream response to extremism

The Reform Party of the United States of America (abbreviated Reform Party USA or RPUSA) is a political party in the United States, founded by Ross Perot in 1995 under the belief that Americans were disillusioned with the state of politics--as being corrupt and unable to deal with vital... H. Ross Perot (born June 27, 1930) is an American businessman from Texas, who is best known for seeking the office of President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. ... Patrick Joseph Buchanan (born November 2, 1938) is an American politician, author, syndicated columnist, and broadcaster. ... Year 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full 2000 Gregorian calendar). ... The New America Foundation is a non-profit public policy institute and think tank located in Washington, D.C. that promotes innovative political solutions transcending conventional party lines -- what they call radical centrist politics. ... John B. Vasconcellos (May 11, 1932 in San Jose, California) is an American politician from California and member of the Democratic Party. ... Mark Satin fielding a question at the Fall for the Book Literary Festival, Fairfax, VA, USA, September 21, 2004 – photo by Richard Mallory Allnutt Mark Satin (born November 16, 1946) is a U.S. lawyer and editor of the online political periodical Radical Middle Newsletter. ...

See also

This entry is related to, but not included in the Political ideologies series or one of its sub-series. Other related articles can be found at the Politics Portal.

• Third way (centrism)
• Centrism
• Distributism
• Producerism
• Social Credit
• Centrist Party (United States)
• Yin and yang (Chinese philosophical symbol related to radical centrism/harmony of the opposites)
• Via media

Political Ideologies Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An ideology is an organized collection of ideas. ... Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, adherents of the Third Way The Third Way, or Radical center, is a centrist political philosophy of governance that embraces a mix of market and interventionist philosophies. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ... Distributism, also known as distributionism and distributivism, is a third-way economic philosophy formulated by such Roman Catholic thinkers as G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc to apply the principles of social justice articulated by the Roman Catholic Church, especially in Pope Leo XIIIs encyclical Rerum Novarum[1] and... Grange poster depicting the independent, industrious farmer as the keystone figure in society. ... Social Credit (often called Socred for short) is an economic ideology and a social movement which started in the early 1920s. ... The Centrist Party was created on July 4, 2006 as a self-declared response to the stalemate between the Republican Party and Democratic Party in the previous two presidential elections. ... Japanese name Kanji: Hiragana: Yin and yang (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) are generalizations of the antithesis or mutual correlation between certain objects or phenomena in the natural world, combining to create a unity of opposites. ... The term Radical Middle refers to a type of third way philosophy as well as an associated political movement, which defines itself by simultaneously affirming both sides of an apparently contradictory issue, whether that be Left-Right politics or a false dilemma. ...

External links

Philosophical

• Media Literary for a New Millennium: Finding the "radical center"

• Centrerion: Canadian Politics, a centrist blog's About page containing Centrist philosophy

• Choosing The Radical Middle (minority-language schooling)

• Quest for the Radical Middle: A History of the Vineyard

• New Bishop Frank Griswald claims to stand at 'radical center' of Episcopalian church

• The Centrist Moment in the Anglican Church

• Yahoo! Radical Middle discussion group, a spin-off of PoMoXian

• Toward The Radical Center: A Karel Capek Reader

• The Quivira Coalition for harmony between humans and nature at the Radical Center

• Ground Rules of Civil Society: A Radical Centrist Manifesto

• John Mark Ministries - evangelical Christian liberals

• Some Radical Thinking on Centrism, Politics, And the Future of Conflict Management

Media coverage

Media coverage of the 'radical middle' phenomena in (mostly American) politics:

• Environmentalist Robert Olson's article "The Rise of 'Radical Middle' Politics" from The Futurist

• Leif Utne's article The Radical Middle from The Utne Reader

• On a candidate's debate during the 2006 Canadian federal election from Montreal's The Suburban

• Revenge of the Radical Centrists by John Avlon of the Vital Center

• Richard D. Kahlenberg's analysis of "The Radical Center"

• The New American Idol Wired on Arnold Schwarzenegger as the start of 'radical' centrism.

• What’s on the Mind of the "Radical Middle"? Economic Growth and Opportunity in the New Century

• The Aquarian Conspiracy - New Age vision of a "common ground/consensus" model of transformational politics

• Smarter Leadership: Managing Change from the Radical Center (mentions Roger Douglas, a radical centrist leader in New Zealand).

• Mount Royal needs debate: activist, is an article discussing a Canadian centrist's activism

• Claim common ground by Pete Szkolka in the Columbia, MO Tribune

Information from self-described radical middle/radical centrist sources: Utne Reader is a left-of-center periodical founded in 1984 by Eric Utne. ... In politics in the United States, the Vital Center is a term used to describe where the Presidential nominees of the two major political parties go to look for votes, traditionally after they have wrapped up their own partys nomination at the party convention. ... Wired is a full-color monthly magazine and on-line periodical published in San Francisco, California since March 1993. ... Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (German pronunciation (IPA): ) (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, currently serving as the 38th Governor of the U.S. state of California. ... In politics, centrism usually refers to the political ideal of promoting moderate policies which land in the middle ground between different political extremes. ...

• Welcome to the Radical Middle by RadicalCentrism.org

• The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy

• The Responsive Communitarian Platform

• The Radical Center: The Future of American Politics

• Radical Middle: The Politics We Need Now

• Hans Masing, Radical Middle candidate for U.S. Congress, Michigan

• The Thom Hartmann Program, a radio commentator calling for a Radical Center

• EarthOps.org's Radical Centrist Party Political Platform?

• Colorado Voices: The Radical Center where "compassionate, common-sense solutions" come from

• The Radical Centrist a political blogger based in California, co-founder of Bloginators

• The Centrust Party, inspired by the novel The Shift (ISBN 0-9727034-9-7)

• Rantings of a “Radical Centrist”

The Shift is a song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the American pop band The Beach Boys. ...

Centrist Blogs

• Public Policy News & Research

• Common Ground on Abortion Policy