What Is Centrism?

Abstract

Centrism, an ambiguous political term, requires greater analytical scrutiny. After summarising conceptualisations of centrism – and of a centre in politics – that can be derived from existing literature, this article is focused on centrism as a purported set of ideas: a centre beyond left and right. As a case study for this outlook, the centrist project of French president Emmanuel Macron is analysed. A new theory of centrism is then presented – centrism as a structure for political action – which recognises both the lack of political concepts within centrism and the inclusion of a political strategy which makes it an observable phenomenon: a politics which oscillates between left and right. Within liberal democracies, centrism offers a strategy for action, derived from a critique of left and right political establishments. Yet it does so in an ideational context largely shaped by existing ideologies of left and right, moderate and extreme. While oscillation may ease political decision-making, as a strategy, it does not inscribe specifically centrist political ideas. A distinct centrism which transcends left and right remains elusive.