Where do left and right mean in politics? What is the origin? Is this only in the US?

What Left and Right Mean in America

• The left usually favors a bigger role for government in health care, education and the social safety net, stronger protections for civil rights, more regulation of business, and stricter gun laws. Most of the left votes Democratic.
• The right usually favors smaller government, lower taxes, free markets, traditional values, a strong military and gun rights. Most of the right votes Republican.
• Each side has wings. Democrats range from progressives to moderates, and Republicans from traditional conservatives to libertarians (who want government out of both the economy and personal life) and populists.
• Red and blue. In America, red stands for Republicans and blue for Democrats, a habit that set in with television election maps around the 2000 election. In most other countries it is the reverse: red is the color of the left.

What Progressive and Conservative Mean

Progressive comes from "progress." A progressive believes society should keep improving through reform, often using government to reduce inequality and widen rights. The word took hold in America during the Progressive Era (about 1890 to 1920), when reformers fought child labor and corruption and won women the vote. Progressives usually want:

• Health care for everyone, with some backing a single public plan (often called Medicare for All)
• A higher minimum wage and stronger unions
• Higher taxes on the wealthy and on large companies
• Strong action on climate change
• Wider civil rights protections, including racial justice and LGBTQ rights
• Abortion rights
• Stricter gun laws
• Criminal justice reform
• Lower-cost or free college
• A path to citizenship for many immigrants

Conservative comes from "conserve," meaning to keep or protect. A conservative believes in keeping traditions and institutions that have stood the test of time, changing things slowly, and limiting government. The Irish-born British statesman Edmund Burke (1729 to 1797) is often called the father of modern conservatism. Conservatives usually want:

• Lower taxes and less government spending
• Fewer regulations on business, and free markets
• More power for states and less for the federal government
• A strong military and strong support for police
• Gun rights under the Second Amendment
• Traditional family and religious values
• Limits on abortion
• Stricter immigration enforcement and border security
• School choice, meaning public money that can follow a child to a private, charter or religious school
• Balanced budgets and less national debt

Not everyone fits neatly. Many Americans hold views from both lists.

Where the Terms Came From

The words began in 1789, during the French Revolution. In the new National Assembly, members who supported the king and the old order sat on the right of the presiding officer, and those who wanted change sat on the left. Newspapers of the 1790s used the seating as shorthand. The terms faded under Napoleon, came back after the monarchy returned in 1814, and by the mid-1800s were everyday political language in France. From there they spread across Europe and then the world.

Used Around the World, With Local Meanings

• United Kingdom: Labour is on the left and the Conservatives are on the right.
• Europe: the left is usually socialist, social democratic or green, and the right is usually conservative or Christian democratic.
• Australia: the word "liberal" flips meaning. There, the Liberal Party is on the right, while in America "liberal" means the left.
• Ghana: the NDC calls itself social democratic (center-left), and the NPP is liberal-conservative (center-right).

A Useful Shortcut, Not the Whole Picture

One line from left to right is a simplification. Many people are left on some issues and right on others, so political scientists often use 2 measures instead: one for economic questions (how much the government should do) and one for social questions (how much personal freedom versus tradition).