The terms
right-wing and
left-wing encompass a great many ideas.
In simple terms, the right-wing is in favor of centralizing political
power in the hands of the leaders of government, and the left-wing is
in favor of distributing political power to the people.
Politics on the right is associated with conservatism; politics on the
left is associated with liberalism. In the U.S., the Republican
Party is more conservative, so it is 'on the right', and the Democratic
Party is more liberal, so it is 'on the left'.
Sometimes the terms
right-wing and
left-wing are used to
characterize the more extreme versions of these two conflicting
philosophies of government. At their most extreme, right-wing
politics tends toward Fascism, and left-wing politics tends toward
Communism.
CJ