Političke stranke i organizacije koje se smatraju lijevim centrom najčešće nastoje pronaći kompromis između socijalno-odgovornih i pragmatičnih sadržaja u svojim programima. Od njih su najpoznatije stranke, organizacije i pokreti socijaldemokratske orijentacije, koji se najčešće nazivaju lijevim centrom.
Pojam lijevog centra se često koristi i za opis koalicije koju čine stranke ljevice i centra.
Lijevi centar na političkom spektru predstavlja ljevicu okrenutu političkom pragmatizmu.[4][5] Pragmatična politika lijevog centra se usmjerava samo na minimalni program, kojim u okviru ustanova predstavničke, parlamentarne demokratije i tržišne kapitalističke ekonomije nastoji sprovesti djelimičnu promjenu putem aktivne ekonomske uloge javnog sektora, javnih institucija i servisa koji bi trebalo da rade na ublažavanju nepravdi koje nanosi neregulirani, liberalni model kapitalizma.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Praktično ostvarenje takve djelimične promjene u okviru ustanova parlamentarne demokratije i tržišne kapitalističke ekonomije uobičajeno se naziva socijalno odgovornom državom ili državom blagostanja.[8][12][13][14][15] Lijevi centar se smatra umjerenom strujom u suvremenom ljevičarskom pokretu.[16][17][18][19]
promoviranje mirnog i diplomatskog načina rješavanja sporova i sukoba;
korištenje demokratskih i nenasilnih parlamentarnih i izvanparlamentarnih oblika djelovanja i opiranje svim nedemokratskim, autoritarnim i totalitarnim oblicima djelovanja.
Umjerena progresivna stranka u matičnom toku zemlje koja je zasnovana na parlamentarnoj demokratiji i tržišnoj kapitalističkoj ekonomiji, sa glasačkim tijelom kako u nižoj klasi tako i u srednjoj klasi, mogla bi biti opisana kao politička stranka lijevog centra.[22][23] Dok bi stranka sa većim zahtjevima i ciljevima, koja ima glasačko tijelo među onim dijelom malobrojnije, ali svjesnije srednje i niže klase, fizičke i intelektualne, te sa historijom podrške i učešća u emancipacijskim i progresivnim pokretima, mogla biti opisana kao stranka radikalnije, nove ljevice.[24][25][26][27]
Političke stranke lijevog centra, kao i druge suvremene ljevičarske stranke, uobičajeno ističu sljedeće vrijednosti:[28]
sloboda — ne samo ljudske slobode, nego i sloboda od diskriminacije, sloboda demokratskog sudjelovanja i sloboda od zavisnosti, ekstremnog siromaštva, straha i zlouporabe političke, ekonomske i druge moći i položaja;
jednakost — ne samo pred zakonom, nego i jednake šanse i mogućnosti za sve ljude u raznim oblastima života, bez obzira na identitetske različitosti, uključujući i one osobe sa poteškoćama bilo koje vrste;
solidarnost — pokazivanje razumijevanja i saosjećanja prema osobama koje su žrtve nekog oblika diskriminacije, nepravde, neravnopravnosti ili nezgodnog sticaja okolnosti, te osobna spremnost zajedničkog djelovanja sa drugima na pronalaženju načina za umanjivanje i sprječavanje takvih pojava. Ovo načelo podrazumijeva i razvijanje institucionalnih oblika solidarnosti, te internacionalne solidarnosti.
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^"Metropolitan. v.38 1913". HathiTrust. p. 63. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
^"Most's Meeting". Indianapolis Indiana State Sentinel. September 21, 1887. p. 1 Column 1.
^Blaazer, David (2002) [1992]. The Popular Front and the Progressive Tradition: Socialists, Liberals, and the Quest for Unity, 1884–1939. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Understanding Social Democracy (PDF). What's Left of the Left: Liberalism and Social Democracy in a Globalized World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University. Pristupljeno 29. 1. 2016.
^Notermans, Ton (2000). Money, Markets, and the State: Social Democratic Economic Policies since 1918. Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Brandal, Nik; Bratberg, Øivind; Thorsen, Dag Einar (2013). The Nordic Model of Social Democracy. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Lijevi centar
^ abSejersted, Francis (2011). Adams, Madeleine B., ur. The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century. Prevod: Daly, Richard. Princeton University Press. Lijevi centar
^Berman, Sheri (1998). The Social Democratic Moment: Ideas and Politics in the Making of Interwar Europe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Lijevi centar
^Aspalter, Christian (2001). Importance of Social Democratic Movements in Welfare Politics: With Special Reference to Germany, Austria and Sweden. Huntington, New York: Nova Science Publishers. Lijevi centar
^ abBadie, Bertrand; Berg-Schlosser, Dirk; Morlino, Leonardo, ur. (2011). „Social Democracy”. International Encyclopedia of Political Science. 8. Sage Publications. Lijevi centar
^Thorsen, Dag Einar; Brandal, Nik; Bratberg, Øivind (2013). „Utopia Sustained: The Nordic Model of Social Democracy”. London: Fabian Society. Pristupljeno 2. 8. 2016.
^Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2006). „The Social Welfare State, beyond Ideology”. Scientific American. sv. 295 br. 5. New York. str. 42. ISSN 0036-8733. Arhivirano iz originala na datum 12. 10. 2007. Pristupljeno 2. 8. 2016.
^Upchurch, Martin; Taylor, Graham; Mathers, Andrew (2009). The Crisis of Social Democratic Trade Unionism in Western Europe: The Search for Alternatives. Contemporary Employment Relations. Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing. Lijevi centar
^Fitzpatrick, Tony (2003). After the New Social Democracy: Social Welfare for the Twenty-First Century. Manchester University Press. Lijevi centar
^Bardhan, Pranab; Roemer, John E. (1992). „Market Socialism: A Case for Rejuvenation”. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 6 (3): 101—116. ISSN 0895-3309
^Britain, Ian (2005) [1982]. Fabianism and Culture: A Study in British Socialism and the Arts, c. 1884–1918. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Hinnfors, Jonas (2006). Reinterpreting Social Democracy: A History of Stability in the British Labour Party and Swedish Social Democratic Party. Critical Labour Movement Studies. Manchester University Press. Lijevi centar
^Janowsky, Oscar Isaiah (1959). Foundations of Israel: Emergence of a Welfare State. Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand.
^Meyer, Thomas; Hinchman, Lewis P. (2007). The Theory of Social Democracy. Cambridge, England: Polity Press. Lijevi centar
^• Hoefer, Richard (2013). „Social Welfare Policy and Politics”. Colby, Ira C.; Dolmus, Catherine N.; Sowers, Karen M. Connecting Social Welfare Policy to Fields of Practice. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Lijevi centar
^Jackson, Ben (2008). „Social Democracy”. Durlauf, Steven N.; Blume, Lawrence E. The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. 7 (2nd edition). Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Lijevi centar
^Ishay, Michelle R. (2008) [2005]. The History of Human Rights: From Ancient Times to the Globalization Era. Berkeley: University of California Press. Lijevi centar
^Hudson, Kate (2012). The New European Left: A Socialism for the Twenty-First Century?. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Lijevi centar
^Busky, Donald F. (2000). Democratic Socialism: A Global Survey. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers. Lijevi centar
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^Evans, Bryan; Schmidt, Ingo, ur. (2012). Social Democracy After the Cold War. Edmonton, Alberta: Athabasca University Press. Lijevi centar
^Kenworthy, Lane (2014). Social Democratic America. New York: Oxford University Press. Lijevi centar
^Cronin, James E.; Ross, George W.; Shoch, James (2011). What's Left of the Left: Democrats and Social Democrats in Challenging Times. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press. Lijevi centar
^Rubinstein, David (2006). The Labour Party and British Society: 1880–2005. Brighton, England: Sussex University Press. Lijevi centar
^Corfe, Robert (2010). The Future of Politics: With the Demise of the Left/Right Confrontational System. Bury St Edmunds, England: Arena Books. Lijevi centar
^Orlow, Dietrich (2000). Common Destiny: A Comparative History of the Dutch, French, and German Social Democratic Parties, 1945–1969. New York: Berghahn Books. Lijevi centar
^Edinger, Lewis Joachim (1956). German Exile Politics: The Social Democratic Executive Committee in the Nazi Era. Berkeley: University of California Press.
^Childs, David (2000). The Two Red Flags: European Social Democracy and Soviet Communism since 1945. London: Routledge. Lijevi centar
^Bogdanor, Vernon (1985). „The Social Democratic Party and the Alliance”. Ur.: Burch, Martin; Jaenicke, Douglas; Gardner, John. Three Political Systems: A Reader in British, Soviet and American Politics. Manchester University Press. Lijevi centar
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