page_title: Radical centrism
section_title: France
hierarchical_section_title: Radical centrism / Radical centrist political action / France
caption_attribution_description: English: LEWEB 2014 - CONFERENCE - LEWEB TRENDS - IN CONVERSATION WITH EMMANUEL MACRON (FRENCH MINISTER FOR ECONOMY INDUSTRY AND DIGITAL AFFAIRS) - PULLMAN STAGE Français&#160;: Emmanuel Macron en décembre 2014
context_page_description: Radical centrism, also called the radical center, the radical centre or the radical middle, is a concept that arose in Western nations in the late 20th century. At first, it was defined in a variety of ways, but at the beginning of the 21st century a number of political science texts gave it a more developed cast.
  The radical in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical centrists to call for fundamental reform of institutions. The centrism refers to a belief that genuine solutions require realism and pragmatism, not just idealism and emotion. One radical centrist text defines radical centrism as "idealism without illusions", a phrase originally from John F. Kennedy.
  Radical centrists borrow ideas from the left and the right, often melding them together. Most support market-based solutions to social problems, with strong governmental oversight in the public interest. There is support for increased global engagement and the growth of an empowered middle class in developing countries. Many radical centrists work within the major political parties, but they also support independent or third-party initiatives and candidacies.
context_section_description: Several observers have identified Emmanuel Macron, elected President of France in 2017, as a radical centrist. Anne Applebaum of The Washington Post says Macron "represents the brand-new radical center", as does his political movement, En Marche!, which Applebaum translates as "forward". She notes a number of politically bridging ideas Macron holds – for example, "He embraces markets, but says he believes in 'collective solidarity'". A professor of history, Robert Zaretsky, writing in Foreign Policy, argues that Macron's radical centrism is "the embodiment of a particularly French kind of center – the extreme center". He points to Macron's declaration that he is "neither left nor right", and to his support for policies, such as public-sector austerity and major environmental investments, that traditional political parties might find contradictory.
  U.S. politician Dave Andersion, writing in The Hill newspaper, says that Macron's election victory points the way for those "who wish to transcend their polarized politics of [the present] in the name of a new center, not a moderate center associated with United States and United Kingdom 'Third Way' politics but what has been described as Macron's 'radical center' point of view. … [It] transcends left and right but takes important elements of both sides".
caption: Emmanuel Macron speaking at a high-tech conference in 2014
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