In the US, the Left Wing Is Expected to Unconditionally Back the Center Left
In many multiparty democracies, left-wing factions often agree to support center-left governments in exchange for a policy or cabinet position. But in the US, the Left is typically expected to support the center left without getting any concessions in return.
Representatives Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Rashida Tlaib listen during a news conference calling for a cease-fire in Gaza outside the US Capitol building on November 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Matt Yglesias has a piece titled “Against murder-suicide politics,” where he criticizes the Left for threatening or actually withholding electoral support from Democrats who do not pursue their desired policies.
Yglesias starts the piece by establishing what he thinks is normal and productive behavior within a political coalition by pointing to how the right-wing of the Republican Party operates, which he says is by providing electoral support without requiring that candidates tout their issues on the hope that they will get their issues dealt with when Republicans win.
Then he contrasts that with the way the left-wing of the Democratic Party operates, which is suggesting or threatening to withhold electoral support unless candidates tout their issues and pursue them when they are in office, which he compares to murder-suicide.
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