Third Way on the 12 Axes

The sociologist Anthony Giddens popularized the idea in The Third Way (1998), and it was put into practice by Bill Clinton's New Democrats, Tony Blair's New Labour and Gerhard Schröder's Neue Mitte; Fernando Henrique Cardoso in Brazil and Ricardo Lagos in Chile joined its international meetings. New Labour dropped its formal commitment to public ownership in 1995, made the Bank of England independent and promoted welfare to work, public-private partnerships and a tough line on crime. Its governments also backed free-trade agreements and military interventions in Kosovo and Iraq. Compared with classic social democracy, it abandons nationalization and gives markets a larger role. Compared with neoliberalism, it keeps an active state in social investment. Compared with liberal centrism, it grew out of labor and socialist parties.

• Liberal Centrism 85%Liberal centrism defends a market economy with a social safety net, free trade, civil rights and European or global cooperation, and positions itself against both left-wing and right-wing populism.
• Social Liberalism 83%Social liberalism holds that individual freedom requires real opportunity, so it pairs a market economy and civil liberties with public education, healthcare and social insurance.
• Neoliberalism 82%Neoliberalism favors free markets, free trade, privatization, deregulation and fiscal discipline, while keeping a functioning state that secures markets and a basic social safety net.
• Liberalism 79%Liberalism is the mainstream tradition of liberal democracy: individual rights, civil liberties and the rule of law first, with a regulated market economy, free trade and open international cooperation.