Leftism, as an ideology and as a movement, is separate and purposefully detached from the political identities of liberals and Democrats. Essentially, leftism, in one form or another, seeks to distance itself from or entirely eliminate the prioritization of free market policies and naturally eliminate discriminatory social conditions. One would be remiss to treat leftism as merely a synonym for socialism (although socialism is leftist). You can think of the distinction between these two terms in the same way I made a distinction between “distance” and “eliminate” in regards to the prioritization of free market policies; non-socialist leftists being more a part of the “distance” camp, whereas more radically-inclined socialists are generally part of the “eliminate” camp.
At the core of both leftist attitudes toward electoral politics — separate from those of major political parties — is the positioning of the window of discourse, known as the Overton window, in American electoral politics. The primary leftist perspective on the matter is that this Overton window is not nearly left enough. Even if you compare the policies and agendas of European governments, which for the most part aren’t even necessarily leftist, to that of the United States, you notice a sharp disparity. There seems to be a relatively wider consensus on the importance of economic regulation and social toleration within European countries, even if such levels are not actually ideal. The point is, however, that the United States is barely even close to this level.
Leftists will generally take one of two different attitudes towards this situation. Simply put, these attitudes are optimistic and pessimistic. I will start by talking about the optimistic attitude. This sub-perspective could also be ultimately called the “reformist” perspective. Leftists who put forth this viewpoint believe that, no matter how far right the economic and social priorities are of both the Democratic and Republican parties, people with the right idea must vote to push it left for the well-being of lower-class people, minorities, immigrants, etc. For this reason, leftist optimists, or “reformists,” support participation in electoral politics on the grounds of practicality.
The pessimistic side could also be called the “revolutionary” side. I put together pessimism and revolution here because a revolutionary intent in America indeed follows from pessimism in the electoral system. These leftists hold that not only is there no hope for leftist reform within the Democratic party or outside of it, but that the Democratic party itself has done next to nothing more than the Republican for leftist causes. Thus, for its inappropriate approach towards economic and social policies, not even the ostensibly “left-wing” party of the United States can be trusted to bring progressive change.
This is a brief description of leftist viewpoints towards electoral politics. But, as a leftist myself, can I provide my own assertion? Not adequately. However, like with many things in life, the best approach likely lies within a synthesis of both perspectives. One thing I will strongly suggest to any fellow leftist or open-minded non-leftist is that no matter what, we should not be dogmatic; whether it is dogma pointed towards the potential of the system as it stands, or towards the potential of grassroots revolution against the system.
Ryan Curnow, a Contributing Writer for the Voice, can be reached for comment at RCurnow22@wooster.edu.