Is it really possible to compare the European and US political spectrums and what is the difference?

The field of politics has as many perspectives as it has people discussing it. However, in order for us to be able to sit down an actually discuss the current issues bothering us there has to be some kind of previously agreed upon standard for judgement. If this doen't exist we can't really get to the point of understanding that is necessary in order for us to improve anything at all.

This kind of understanding of the standards involved is exactly what's lacking in the political discourse between Europe and the US, and it's the reason for the constant mistakes both sides tend to make when assessing loyalties. However what I'm curious about is the real extent of the differences. What do you guys think?

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Burnley123 · 41-45, M

I'm a European who has American friends IRL and I've been to the States several times.

Western European politics is generally to the 'left' of American politics, pretty much on every issue. Obviously, Europe is far from homogenous and things vary greatly in different countries.

Some things are completely different in America. For example, healthcare is a world different and Government funded healthcare or single-payer is just the status quo. A popular one too. It varies, but most European countries have slightly higher income taxes and more generous welfare states.

The culture war that dominates so much of American politics barely exists in Europe. Abortion is legal (and non-controversially legal) in most countries because nobody here has a Christian right as America does. Ireland kind of did but even they voted to legalise abortion and the debates around that issue were surprisingly polite. Immigration is the one major culture war issue that is huge thing in Europe. Overall though, the average Democrat voter would be a European but the average Republican voter wouldn't really feel at home.

I think if you are talking about the political spectrum; the average of American politics is half a move to the right of where the UK is. Bernie Sanders would be considered centre-left in most places and a centrist in the Nordic countries. Trump would be considered far-right and what you guys call libertarians don't really exist in Europe at all. Or if they do, they don't openly advocate for what they believe.

KioCo · M

@Burnley123 First of all you've discounted the conservative part of Europe, which is Eastern Europe (also very religious), where the public opinion is completely against abortion, much more so than the anyone in the US. Also, I agree that Western Europe is more to the left than anyone in the US and I actually believe that that's the case due to the homogeneity you've mentioned.

Healthcare is different however not all public, 40% of dutch citizens have private healthcare now (the government still forces them to pay for the public shit). Also Switzerland has a private system (which many conservatives advocate as a model for the US) that their government forces them to buy into.

Also I'd like to add that this isn't a fixed state in Europe as much as it is in the US, opinions are shifting rapidly, which can be seen by the sheer number of fiscally conservative and generally right wing politicians that are being elected (Denmark, Austria, Czechia and so on. It seems to me that Europe's left wing fetish hasn't come to be primarily due to the people's will, but rather that it was imposed on them from the top, which is starting to topple in a manner which is hard to see happening in the US.