The Push and Pull of the Third Way:.

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton constructed a “Third Way” ideology that helped their parties win political power in the 1990s. This novel ideology created a middle path between socialism and neoliberalism that moved parties of the Left closer to the center of the political spectrum. Some scholars have tried to understand the Third Way by describing the factors that influenced its creation. Others have detailed the exact policies of the Third Way, asking whether it is really new or just a revision of an older ideology While these works have added to our knowledge of this subject, questions remain about this ideology. It is still unclear what barriers Blair and Clinton faced when trying to implement the Third Way. Did interest groups try to stop them? How did the media react to this ideology? In our paper, we deal with this issue by focusing on the implementation of Third Way policies. Basically, it seeks to highlight those factors that either promoted or prevented the passage of Third Way legislation in America and Britain. To address the issue of implementation, we present a case study of Blair and Clinton’s immigration policies. We ask, were Blair and Clinton’s policies similar? Or did these leaders enact different immigration proposals? By answering these questions, we are trying to highlight those forces in society that enhanced or prevented policy convergence. We argue that there are several “push” factors that make it more likely for Blair and Clinton’s policies to be similar. Economic changes in the US and UK, electoral difficulties confronting the Left, cultural change from materialism to post-materialism, organizational cooperation between Labour and the Democrats, and the attitudes of Blair and Clinton are all identified in this paper as factors that promote policy convergence. However, while policy convergence might occur in some cases, other variables exist that might create differences between Clinton and Blair’s policies. Specifically, they could face pressures from interest groups, public opinion, media elites, economic forces, and opposition parties when trying to implement the Third Way. These “pull” factors will make it difficult for Clinton and Blair to enact similar policies. Our paper examines these push and pull factors in an attempt to identify whether the Third Way can be successfully implemented cross-nationally. This topic needs to be considered for several reasons. First, as the Left struggles to find an ideology to replace socialism, scholars need to study the new ideologies that they adopt. This can tell us about the future direction of the Left and whether it will succeed as a political force in the upcoming years. Second, this topic has not received much attention in the literature. Most research deals with why parties are adopting the Third Way or considers the clarity of this ideology. There needs to be more focus on whether the Third Way is being successfully implemented in the US and UK. Third, there is a need for more comparative scholarship when it comes to this topic. Most of the literature looks at the Third Way without comparing it to different cases and contexts. Our approach is comparative and examines this ideology in America and Britain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]