<P> Green parties were the most recent of the major party groups to develop . They have mostly rejected socialism and are very liberal on social issues . </P> <P> These categories can be applied to many parties outside Europe . Ware (1996) asserted that in the United States both major parties were liberal, even though there are left--right policy differences between them . </P> <P> In the 2001 book The Government and Politics of France, Andrew Knapp and Vincent Wright say that the main factor dividing the left and right wings in Western Europe is class . The Left seeks social justice through redistributive social and economic policies, while the Right defends private property and capitalism . The nature of the conflict depends on existing social and political cleavages and on the level of economic development . Left - wing values include the belief in the power of human reason to achieve progress for the benefit of the human race, secularism, sovereignty exercised through the legislature, social justice and mistrust of strong personal political leadership . To the Right, this is regularly seen as anti-clericalism, unrealistic social reform, doctrinaire socialism and class hatred . The Right are skeptical about the capacity for radical reforms to achieve human well - being while maintaining workplace competition . They believe in the established church both in itself and as an instrument of social cohesion; and believe in the need for strong political leadership to minimize social and political divisions . To the Left, this is seen as a selfish and reactionary opposition to social justice, a wish to impose doctrinaire religion on the population and a tendency to authoritarianism and repression . </P> <P> The differences between left and right have altered over time . The initial cleavage at the time of the French Revolution was between supporters of absolute monarchy (the Right) and those who wished to limit the king's authority (the Left). During the 19th century, the cleavage was between monarchists and republicans . Following the establishment of the Third Republic in 1871, the cleavage was between supporters of a strong executive on the Right and supporters of the primacy of the legislature on the Left . </P>

Where did the terms left and right come from in politics