What is "third way"

n. 1 An approach or solution which strives for an alternative to or middle ground between two opposing viewpoints. (from 17th c.) 2 (context politics English) An ideology which seeks to find middle ground between right- and left-wing politics, associated during the 1990s with various centre-left political parties in Europe, North America and Australia. (from 20th c.)

In politics, the Third Way is a position akin to centrism that tries to reconcile right-wing and left-wing politics by advocating a varying synthesis of right-wing economic and left-wing social policies. The Third Way was created as a serious re-evaluation of political policies within various centre-left progressive movements in response to international doubt regarding the economic viability of the state; economic interventionist policies that had previously been popularized by Keynesianism and contrasted with the corresponding rise of popularity for economic liberalism and the New Right. The Third Way is promoted by some social democratic and social liberal movements.

Major Third Way social democratic proponent Tony Blair claimed that the socialism he advocated was different from traditional conceptions of socialism. Blair said "My kind of socialism is a set of values notions of social justice ... Socialism as a rigid form of economic determinism has ended, and rightly". Blair referred to it as "social-ism" that involves politics that recognized individuals as socially interdependent, and advocated social justice, social cohesion, equal worth of each citizen, and equal opportunity. Third Way social democratic theorist Anthony Giddens has said that the Third Way rejects the traditional conception of socialism, and instead accepts the conception of socialism as conceived of by Anthony Crosland as an ethical doctrine that views social democratic governments as having achieved a viable ethical socialism by removing the unjust elements of capitalism by providing social welfare and other policies, and that contemporary socialism has outgrown the Marxian claim for the need of the abolition of capitalism. Blair in 2009 publicly declared support for a "new capitalism".

It supports the pursuit of greater egalitarianism in society through action to increase the distribution of skills, capacities, and productive endowments, while rejecting income redistribution as the means to achieve this. It emphasizes commitment to balanced budgets, providing equal opportunity combined with an emphasis on personal responsibility, decentralization of government power to the lowest level possible, encouragement of public-private partnerships, improving labour supply, investment in human development, protection of social capital, and protection of the environment.

The Third Way has been criticized by some conservatives and libertarians who advocate laissez-faire capitalism. It has also been heavily criticized by many social democrats, democratic socialists and communists in particular as a betrayal of left-wing values. Specific definitions of Third Way policies may differ between Europe and America.

The Third Way is a former political party and now a think tank that researches and debates themes relevant to nationalists. It was founded as a political party on 17 March 1990.

According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission, in 2006, Third Way had 20 members and cashflow of approximately £1,400. In December 2010, the membership was 21. It decided to revert to being a think tank and de-registered as a political party.

It should not be confused with the Third Way ideology promoted by Tony Blair, Bill Clinton and Gerhard Schröder, which it condemns as a revised form of social democracy. It is not related to the Christian Third Way magazine.

Third Way may refer to:

The Third Way (, HaDerekh HaShlishit) was a political party in Israel in the 1990s.

The Third Way is a small centrist Palestinian political party active in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). Founded on 16 December 2005, the party was led by Salam Fayyad and Hanan Ashrawi. The party presents itself as an alternative to the two-party system of Hamas and Fatah.

In the January 2006 PLC elections the party received 2.41% of the popular vote and won two of the Council's 132 seats. After the disappointing election results, the party disappeared from the Palestinian arena, but in July 2015 party leaders held a series of meetings in Ramallah and Hebron to discuss the party's ability to reactivate its platform and return.

Third Way is a British current affairs magazine written from a Christian perspective. It can call on well-known Christian thinkers and writers (its columnists include high-profile journalists, clergy and BBC comedy writers) to comment on news issues, much as the New Statesman or Spectator calls on those from left or right. According to the Times, it is 'noted for giving a serious Christian perspective on topics ranging from the Bible to politics, environment to the arts'. The magazine is not affiliated with either the minor British political party Third Way, or with the centrist ' Third Way' policies of Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.

In 1974, thousands of Christians meeting at the First International Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland signed a covenant pledging to commit themselves to bringing the Christian gospel to bear on social issues. This sparked a lively debate in the Christian monthly magazine Crusade between David Sheppard, later Bishop of Liverpool, and John Pridmore. The debate inspired the editor of Crusade, John Capon, to launch Third Way as a fortnightly magazine in January 1977, putting a Christian perspective on current affairs and the arts. Its title refers to an observation by the theologian Os Guinness in his 1973 book The Dust of Death: 'How often in the contemporary discussion a sensitive modern man knows that he cannot accept either of the polarised alternatives offered to him. In Christianity, however, there can be a Third Way, a true middle ground which has a basis, is never compromise and is far from silent.' Third Way's first editor was Derek Williams. In 1978, he was succeeded by Alex Beale, later Alex Mitchell, who moved the magazine to its current monthly publication schedule.

Third Way reviews films, music, books and television. It also carries features on social or cultural issues (such as the environment, sexual identity and economics) as well as in-depth interviews of high-profile and influential people, which are published in question-and-answer format without editorial comment. Since 1993, it has talked to Marina Abramović, Gerry Adams, Maya Angelou, Tony Blair, Richard Branson, Noam Chomsky, Paulo Coelho, Richard Dawkins, Tracey Emin, Werner Herzog, Annie Lennox, Theresa May, Khalid Mish'al, Jürgen Moltmann, Camille Paglia, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Anita Roddick and Slavoj Žižek among over 200 others. The Observer has said that 'the magazine has clearly … mastered the art of interviewing celebs who have been stitched up once too often by the red-tops'.

Other sections include an 'Icon of the month' (deconstructing everything from the Holocaust to McDonald's to Bob Dylan to the FIFA World Cup), a regular two-way Bible commentary/debate and an events page.

The magazine has 10,000 readers worldwide. Its current editor is Simon Jones and other staff include Steve Tomkins, Nick Thorpe and Huw Spanner. In terms of Christian alignment, it sits comfortably alongside the Greenbelt festival or the website Ship of Fools.

In July 2007 Third Way was acquired by Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, which also owns the Church Times. The closure of the magazine was announced in February 2016, with effect from the April 2016 issue.

Third Way a French Third Position organisation founded in 1985 by a merger of the small neo-fascist Mouvement nationaliste révolutionnaire, which gathered former members of François Duprat's Revolutionary Nationalist Groups (GNR), with dissidents from the Parti des forces nouvelles.

Led by Jean-Gilles Malliarakis, the party adopted the slogan of 'neither trusts nor soviets' (ni trusts, ni soviets) and stood against communism, capitalism and Zionism. It used a trident as its emblem. For a time the party was associated with the Groupe Union Défense but maintained a generally poor relationship with the Front National (FN). This was the case until 1991 when Malliarakis decided to approach the FN, leading to a schism within the party from those who felt the FN did not conform to their way of thinking. As a result, Christian Bouchet and his followers split off to form Nouvelle Résistance, a group that was to be more National Bolshevik in tone. The Third Way itself remained in the hands of Malliarakis but was dissolved soon after the split.

Troisième voie also maintained links with the white power music scene as Gaël Bodilis, who set up the Rebelles Européens record label in Brest, was for a time a member of the group.

Third Way is a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank founded in 2005. The think tank develops policy ideas, conducts public opinion research and hosts issue briefings. The organization has four policy divisions: Economics, National Security, Clean Energy, and Social Policy & Politics. Third Way develops and advocates for policies that it says represent the "vital center".

Third Way was honored as "2013 North American Think Tank of the Year" by Prospect, a British monthly current affairs magazine, for its "original, influential, and rigorous work on the most pressing challenges facing people, governments, and businesses". In 2012, the first year that Prospect issued a prize for North America, the award went to The Carnegie Endowment. The judges commended Third Way for "making a real impact on debate in the center ground of American politics".

The think tank includes many Republican donors and Democratic officials.