The Center Must Hold: Why Centrism is the Answer to Extremism and Polarization

by Yair Zivan (editor)

Division in society. The spread of misinformation. The rise of extremism. Centrism holds the answers.

In an age of complex global challenges, extremism and populism offer a simple but fatally flawed narrative to a public craving a sense of normalcy. There is another way. Centrism has proven itself not only the most effective antidote to their dangerous brand of politics but also as a successful way to lead countries.

Far from being an arbitrary middle point between left and right, centrism offers a coherent set of political ideas, principles, and

the importance of moderation and pragmatism,the embrace of complexity,the deep commitment to democracy,the belief in equality of opportunity, and the belief that through balancing the tensions that exist in every nation we can make people's lives better.It is about finding the most productive and effective balance between globalization and local communities, civil rights and security, religion and democracy, free markets and protecting the weakest in society.

Drawing together politicians, thought leaders and social commentators - from Tony Blair to Michael Bloomberg, from Jennifer Rubin to Yair Lapid - The Center Must Hold contains a series of essays from those who have led from the center or made significant contributions to centrist thought and policy-making, including former prime ministers, policymakers, and leading journalists from across the world.



What is centrism?

What are the big questions of modern politics and how does centrism address them?

What are the policies and practices of world leaders who are centrists?

How does centrism operation--practically speaking--around the world?

Why is centrism the best way forward in terms of efficiency and effectiveness in governance?

Genres: Politics

368 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 27, 2024

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays from notable figures like Bloomberg and mostly non-notable figures.

While the book talks about "centrism", you can easily replace that with "liberal democracy" and it would mean the exact same thing. I do believe "centrism" has a bad reputation for being milquetoast and that is an accusation that many of the essay writers do their best to disavow. After that, they try to define what centrism means and it's just liberalism.

Collections of essays are challenging as the overall quality can be easily weighed down by individual authors. I don't believe that the authors really coordinated with each other. Rather than this book defining some grand theory of centrism as a political body, it really spends much more time defending itself. Many essays repeat the same things about Bill Clinton and Tony Blair than reaching out with new information, so by the end you feel a bit exhausted.

I think this isn't a terrible book. I did get my copy signed by the author, who seems like a nice person. But it just doesn't land as forcefully as they'd like. Ironically, it feels a bit too milquetoast.

[Théo R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a collection of essays on centrism, centered around different domains. Perhaps predictably, I found them a mixed bag: some of them are incredibly interesting and thought-provoking, some of them repetitive and not adding a lot of value to the ensemble.

Overall, the better ones are definitely worth it and carried the book for me. I appreciated the section on centrism around the world, which offered perspectives of the political past and present of many non-Western countries.

The different authors convinced me that the only way centrism can be a viable alternative to today's polarized landscape is by offering a vision (not an ideology!) of the future that inspires, and a pragmatic, data-driven path towards it. Interestingly, this guiding vision is the one thing "The Center Must Hold" addresses least.

[Robert Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important message, but very repetitive. Each chapter had slight nuance, but overall it restated the central argument over and over again. I appreciated and agreed with the sentiment of the book and hope the message takes hold in our politics, but as many authors pointed out - centrism is not a sexy political movement with a passionate ideology so the read was a bit of a slog at times, even though I agreed with what I was reading.

[Alonso Gómez Payró · Rating 5 out of 5]

Profound reflexions on democracy in a polarized world. Moderates must find a way into the silent majority to convince them there is another way to promote progress and prosperity without taking sides and believing utopian/ magical solutions Populists are offering .

MUST READ for citizens of democracies that are in danger . An invitation to take action.

[Avil Ramírez Mayorga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para hablar del centro no se puede evitar la marcada tendencia centro-izquierda de este libro, que en sí no es ningún pecado, pero siento me aleja como ataca la mayor parte del tiempo a todo lo que es derecha (que hay sus merecedores de ataques), pero se hacen los mudos con los personajes tropicales de su propio sector. Pero bueno, esa es otra historia.

Lo que más destaco de este "llamado" al centrismo es que buscan los autores como identificar a esta "corriente" no como un punto intermedio entre los extremos en donde simplemente se agarra propuestas de uno y otro bando. Sino que se busca presentar al centrismo como sinónimo de pragmatismo, en el sentido de buscar como implementar aquellas ideas demostradas como apropiadas, bien sea en las relaciones internacionales, educación, libertad de expresión, salud, energía, entre otros. Es un llamado a dejar de lado los prejuicios respecto al autor o sector de una propuesta y buscar como implementar aquello que se estima (y demuestra) beneficiará a la sociedad como tal. En ese sentido, sí destaco este libro.