▁ ▁Most ▁long - standing ▁spect ra ▁include ▁the ▁left – right ▁dimension , ▁which ▁originally ▁referred ▁to ▁se ating ▁arrang ements ▁in ▁the ▁French ▁parliament ▁after ▁the ▁Revolution ▁( 1 7 8 9 – 1 7 9 9 ), ▁with ▁radical s ▁on ▁the ▁left ▁and ▁arist ocr ats ▁on ▁the ▁right . ▁While ▁commun ism ▁and ▁social ism ▁are ▁usually ▁regarded ▁intern ation ally ▁as ▁being ▁on ▁the ▁left , ▁conserv at ism ▁and ▁fasc ism ▁are ▁regarded ▁intern ation ally ▁as ▁being ▁on ▁the ▁right . ▁Liberal ism ▁can ▁mean ▁different ▁things ▁in ▁different ▁context s : ▁sometimes ▁on ▁the ▁left ▁( social ▁liberal ism ), ▁sometimes ▁on ▁the ▁right ▁( class ical ▁liberal ism ). ▁Those ▁with ▁an ▁intermediate ▁out look ▁are ▁sometimes ▁class ified ▁as ▁cent rist s . ▁That ▁said , ▁liber als ▁and ▁ne oli ber als ▁are ▁often ▁called ▁cent rist s ▁too . ▁Polit ics ▁that ▁reject s ▁the ▁conventional ▁left – right ▁spectrum ▁is ▁often ▁known ▁as ▁syn cret ic ▁politics , ▁though ▁the ▁label ▁tends ▁to ▁m isch ar acter ize ▁positions ▁that ▁have ▁a ▁logical ▁location ▁on ▁a ▁two - axis ▁spectrum ▁because ▁they ▁seem ▁randomly ▁brought ▁together ▁on ▁a ▁one - axis ▁left - right ▁spectrum . ▁ ▁Political ▁scient ists ▁have ▁frequently ▁noted ▁that ▁a ▁single ▁left – right ▁axis ▁is ▁too ▁simpl istic ▁and ▁ins u fficient ▁for ▁describing ▁the ▁existing ▁variation ▁in ▁political ▁belief s ▁and ▁included ▁other ▁axes . ▁Though ▁the ▁descript ive ▁words ▁at ▁polar