Review by Choice Review
Many are confused by the Left-Right political continuum. It seems as ambiguous as it is ubiquitous. Why, for example, is opposition to abortion put in the same ideological bin as support for free trade? Is not the Left-Right divide incoherent and uninformative? Cochrane (Univ. of Toronto) argues that the Left-Right distinction among political parties, political experts, and voters is generally consistent and real. Political positions are not traceable to a single principle but are akin to family resemblances. I hold positions that are different from yours. But I know and like people whose positions are similar to mine and yours, and for you, it is the same. In this way, people can hold different (and at times incompatible) positions and still be aligned on the Left or the Right. Left is what people see, not what they think. Right and Left are bundles of positions, not logical schemes. As such, there will always be a Left and a Right. This work is rigorous, clear, and amply documented. It is a work of comparative politics, and its quantitative heft is presented deftly and lightly. It also has a separate chapter on the Left and the Right in Canada. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Thomas Michael Bateman, St. Thomas University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
