The vital centre, the middle of nowhere, or something in-between: A study of political centrism in Western democracies

Thesis

The nature of the centre is one of the most significant concepts in the study of comparative politics, due to its place at the fulcrum of the ideological spectrum. However, scholarly interest in the subject has not matched its importance, with a relative paucity of research leaving the idea of the centre often poorly defined, imprecise, and theoretically muddled.

The main contribution of this thesis lies in its response to this confusion. It advances a novel typology to streamline and clarify disparate conceptions of political centrism. It proposes a new theoretical framework of centrist parties and centrist voters, and contextually grounds it within the wider literature on ideology and its effects.

Guided by this typology and utilising several large-sample studies of ideology (expert surveys and manifesto content analysis for parties, and mass public opinion surveys for voters), the three empirical chapters explore several questions related to two fundamental themes – how centrist political actors differ from their counterparts on the left and right, and how centrist political actors differ among themselves.

Specifically, among other things, this thesis finds that subtle variations in centrist ideology can account for parties’ enthusiasm for European integration. It finds that many centrist voters are neither particularly moderate in their views nor are they as compromising and ideologically flexible as they are often presupposed. And it finds that the relationship between the intensity and extremity of preferences bears on electoral behaviour, as centrists are shown to be less sensitive to ideology than other voters when casting their ballots.

This research demonstrates the importance of a more nuanced and comprehensive conception of the centre, and the crucial implications it has for the wide range of subjects in the social sciences relating to political ideology, including party competition, voter behaviour, political psychology, and democratic theory.

Authors: Hatem, D

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-1avxqo4v0
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: political ideology; voter behaviour; party competition; left-right; centrism; centre
• Subjects: Voting; Ideology; Political parties; Right and left (Political science)