Right-wing politics
In politics, the term right-wing (or political right or simply on the right) refers to the segment of the political spectrum associated either with any of several strains of conservatism, or with opposition to left-wing politics. The term developed as a part of parlimentary usage during the French Revolution. The monarchists who supported the ancien regime were commonly referred to as rightists because they sat on the right side of successive legislative assemblies. Some of the more extreme right-wing elements are also referred to as "reactionaries".Today, conservatives often use the term "right" in a positive sense, though the specific term "right-wing" has (until very recently) only been common in a negative usage by opponents. Fascist and neo-fascist groups also often embrace the term positively, which is one reason why mainline conservatives shun the term.
Leftists often use the term "right-wing" as a pejorative label: they interpret the right as defending the traditional power of aristocrats, royalty, established religions and the wealthy against that of commoners. In this sense, the term has also become associated with nationalist or racist movements which promote the interests of a dominant majority, or, in cases such as apartheid-era South Africa, with a ruling minority, denying the rights of other groups. The radical right has associations with fascism or with terrorism, just as the radical left has associations with communism or with terrorism. Of course, most groups on the left and right tend to vigorously deny any such linkages.
The following groups are commonly characterized as being on the political Right, though they might have relatively little in common with other Right-wing groups (even in their own country) beyond their opposition to the Left.
Naturally, in all cases "left" and "right" express relative positioning. For example, the Log Cabin Republicans align on the right in the context of the U.S.'s gay community, but generally appear within the Republican Party as part of the left wing of the party.
Italian fascism has a different lineage. Many of the philosophers of Italian Fascism, such as Robert Michel, Sergio Panunzio, and Giovanni Gentile were originally syndicalists, a group normally identified with the left and having in common with Italian Fascism a propensity for direct action. Benito Mussolini himself was originally a socialist, though he had ceased even to claim to be one by the time he was leading the fascist party. In the treatise Doctrine of Fascism written by Gentile but approved by Mussolini, fascism is identified as being of the right and claims that the 20th century will be the "century of the right".
Japanese fascism, while a distinct phenomenon, is also best understood as an expression of an extreme right-wing philosophy. Like other forms of fascism, it was distinguished by strong opposition to leftists, Communists, and Socialists.
In contemporary politics, neofascists and neonazis are said to be far right. Authoritarian conservatives such as supporters of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet or supporters of the military juntas that ruled much of Latin America in the 1970s are also said to be far right.
Right wing may also refer to a player's position in sports such as soccer and ice hockey.Political groups on the right
Australia
Belgium
Canada
France
Germany
Netherlands
New Zealand
United Kingdom
United States of America
Spain
Fascism and right-wing politics
While fascism is usually considered to be right-wing, it contains many differences from other politics that are usually classified as right-wing. David Schoenbaum argued in his book Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939 that Nazism contained certain revolutionary aspects (although sometimes more in rhetoric than in reality), and it was no coincidence that the Nazis often found themselves in a struggle with the Communists for the same constituency. However, it is a historical truth that the DAP, which later became the Nazi Party, was begun in response to a brief Communist revolt in Bavaria. Vigorous opposition to the left wing was a founding and continuing tenet of Nazi fascism.See Also
External links
References
Hitler's Social Revolution: Class and Status in Nazi Germany, 1933-1939 by David Schoenbaum, ISBN 0393315541
Other meanings