Fishhook Theory

Fish hook theory

Fishhook Theory (or Fish Hook Theory) is an idea in left-right political science based on Horseshoe Theory. Fishhook Theory says that the far right and centrists are very similar but the far left is different from them.

Fishhook Theory takes its name from the fishhook shape it assumes the political spectrum to be, where the point of the hook is pictured to be the far right, the eye is pictured to be the far left, and the shank is pictured to be the center.

Political Usage

While Fishhook Theory is generally used to satirize Horseshoe Theory, it is also sometimes used to sincerely portray similarity or collaboration between the far right and center.

Criticism

One common criticism of Fishhook Theory is that the political spectrum cannot be simplified to a basic left-to-right scale. Because of its lack of evidence and basis in satire, Fishhook Theory is also often disregarded as a simple counter to an already unstable ideology.