horseshoe theory

English

Etymology

Referring to the curved shape of a horseshoe, whose two ends come close to meeting.

Proper noun

horseshoe theory

1. (political science) The theory that the far left and the far right, rather than being at opposite ends of a political continuum, in fact closely resemble one another.
   • 2000, Peter Thompson, “The PDS: Marx's Baby or Stalin's Bathwater?”, in Peter Barker, editor, The GDR and its History: Rückblick und Revision (German Monitor; 49), Rodopi, →ISBN, page 103:

     There is some evidence, contradictory as it is, that if the PDS [Party of Democratic Socialism] did not exist, then the consequence would be a strengthening of the DVU [German People's Union], the NPD [National Democratic Party of Germany] and the Republikaner […] This does not mean, however, that I subscribe to the ever-present but increasingly orthodox horseshoe theory of political analysis […]

   • 2022 December 14, Kathleen Belew, “The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline”, in The Atlantic‎^[1]:

     Some political scientists have suggested a “horseshoe theory,” with the center as the rounded top of a horseshoe and the two fringes on either end, but inclined toward one another. This image, while evocative, isn’t quite right. In the archive, it looks more like a circle.

See also

• alt-left