The globalization of the left-right cleavage

Abstract

This article explains how the left-right opposition constitutes a global ideological cleavage. We argue that the left-right narrative was global practically from the outset and rapidly connected local, national, and world politics. Nation states remain the primary locus of politics, and they give a spatial foundation to the left-right distinction. But concepts and narratives travel, and the left-right opposition contributes to link domestic and international affairs. No political cleavage is more ubiquitous and enduring. Rooted in human psychology, this opposition is built from the bottom up, as it expresses contrasting attitudes about change and social justice, and from the top down, as it is used by parties and social movements to organize political debates. Closely linked to the development of democracy, the features of the left-right conflict vary across countries and over time, so that there are many lefts and many rights. Even though it is less determinant of individual attitudes, the left-right division is also on display in authoritarian regimes, because most of these regimes define themselves in left-right terms. World affairs and global governance themselves are shaped by the left-right cleavage. In short, the left-right language operates as a “political Esperanto” that helps people communicate and makes politics global.