European Model
Uses the international convention in which the Left is red and the Right is blue. The project also maps U.S. political tendencies against political families commonly recognized in Europe.
Visit EuropeanModel.org →A neutral political classification project
A Rep My Block projectBring the political spectrum into focus.
The Political Center organizes major American political tendencies using a European-style classification: Left in red, Right in blue, with distinct ideological caucuses visible inside both major parties.
Why this exists
The United States has parties. Europe has parties and political families.
In U.S. politics, voters are usually presented with a binary choice between Democrat and Republican. But both parties contain multiple political tendencies that are routinely treated as distinct ideological families elsewhere in the world.
The purpose of the Political Center is to make those tendencies visible and to encourage formal caucus recognition inside both the Democratic and Republican parties.
European political classification
Red on the Left. Blue on the Right.
The European Model uses the conventional international color system rather than the inverted U.S. television convention. The spectrum below is intended as a navigational map, not a claim that every political disagreement fits neatly on one line.
The Left
Political Center
The Right
Revolutionary
Anarchist
Progressive
Communist
Socialist
Green
Center
Liberal
Centrist
Libertarian
Democratic Union
Patriot
Far Left
Center
Far Right
Caucus directory
Two broad party coalitions. Multiple political traditions.
The Political Center treats these tendencies as distinct ideological families that can organize openly inside the two major U.S. parties.
Left Caucus · Democratic Party
Classification models
European and American color conventions are not the same.
American Model
Reflects the familiar U.S. media convention in which Republicans are red and Democrats are blue. It is useful descriptively, but it reverses the color convention used in much of the world.
Visit AmericanModel.org →Outside the conventional Left/Right structure
Not every organization fits neatly on the axis.
The Political Center also provides a reference point for groups that do not identify primarily with a recognized Left or Right caucus.
American Union
An organization presented separately from the recognized Left and Right caucus structure.
Visit American Union →Forward
A U.S. political organization that positions itself outside the conventional Democratic/Republican ideological divide.
Visit Forward →No Labels
A U.S. political organization focused on cross-partisan and centrist political activity.
Visit No Labels →Reference institutions
Classification should rest on public, comparable standards.
European political systems already use standardized political-group and ideological classifications. The Political Center points to those systems as references for creating a more legible U.S. political map.
European Parliament political groups
The European Parliament publishes recognized political groups that bring together parties from different countries according to political affinity.
European Parliament →French Ministry of the Interior
France uses official political “nuances” to classify candidates and election results according to standardized political tendencies.
View the classification reference →