Političke stranke i organizacije koje se smatraju lijevim centrom najčešće nastoje pronaći kompromis između socijalno-odgovornih i pragmatičnih sadržaja u svojim programima. Od njih su najpoznatije stranke, organizacije i pokreti socijaldemokratske orijentacije, koji se najčešće nazivaju lijevim centrom.
Pojam lijevog centra se često koristi i za opis koalicije koju čine stranke ljevice i centra.
Lijevi centar na političkom spektru predstavlja ljevicu okrenutu političkom pragmatizmu.[4][5] Pragmatična politika lijevog centra se usmjerava samo na minimalni program, kojim u okviru ustanova predstavničke, parlamentarne demokratije i tržišne kapitalističke ekonomije nastoji sprovesti djelimičnu promjenu putem aktivne ekonomske uloge javnog sektora, javnih institucija i servisa koji bi trebalo da rade na ublažavanju nepravdi koje nanosi neregulirani, liberalni model kapitalizma.[6][7][8][9][10][11] Praktično ostvarenje takve djelimične promjene u okviru ustanova parlamentarne demokratije i tržišne kapitalističke ekonomije uobičajeno se naziva socijalno odgovornom državom ili državom blagostanja.[8][12][13][14][15] Lijevi centar se smatra umjerenom strujom u suvremenom ljevičarskom pokretu.[16][17][18][19]
^"About Our Logo". Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. New York University. Archived from the original on 2017-07-02. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
^"Metropolitan. v.38 1913". HathiTrust. p. 63. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
^"Most's Meeting". Indianapolis Indiana State Sentinel. September 21, 1887. p. 1 Column 1.
^Blaazer, David (2002) [1992]. The Popular Front and the Progressive Tradition: Socialists, Liberals, and the Quest for Unity, 1884–1939. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Understanding Social Democracy (PDF). What's Left of the Left: Liberalism and Social Democracy in a Globalized World. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University. Pristupljeno 29. 1. 2016.
^Notermans, Ton (2000). Money, Markets, and the State: Social Democratic Economic Policies since 1918. Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Brandal, Nik; Bratberg, Øivind; Thorsen, Dag Einar (2013). The Nordic Model of Social Democracy. Basingstoke, England: Palgrave Macmillan. Lijevi centar
^ abSejersted, Francis (2011). Adams, Madeleine B., ur. The Age of Social Democracy: Norway and Sweden in the Twentieth Century. Prevod: Daly, Richard. Princeton University Press. Lijevi centar
^Berman, Sheri (1998). The Social Democratic Moment: Ideas and Politics in the Making of Interwar Europe. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Lijevi centar
^Aspalter, Christian (2001). Importance of Social Democratic Movements in Welfare Politics: With Special Reference to Germany, Austria and Sweden. Huntington, New York: Nova Science Publishers. Lijevi centar
^Badie, Bertrand; Berg-Schlosser, Dirk; Morlino, Leonardo, ur. (2011). „Social Democracy”. International Encyclopedia of Political Science. 8. Sage Publications. Lijevi centar
^Thorsen, Dag Einar; Brandal, Nik; Bratberg, Øivind (2013). „Utopia Sustained: The Nordic Model of Social Democracy”. London: Fabian Society. Pristupljeno 2. 8. 2016.
^Sachs, Jeffrey D. (2006). „The Social Welfare State, beyond Ideology”. Scientific American. sv. 295 br. 5. New York. str. 42. ISSN 0036-8733. Arhivirano iz originala na datum 12. 10. 2007. Pristupljeno 2. 8. 2016.
^Upchurch, Martin; Taylor, Graham; Mathers, Andrew (2009). The Crisis of Social Democratic Trade Unionism in Western Europe: The Search for Alternatives. Contemporary Employment Relations. Farnham, England: Ashgate Publishing. Lijevi centar
^Fitzpatrick, Tony (2003). After the New Social Democracy: Social Welfare for the Twenty-First Century. Manchester University Press. Lijevi centar
^Bardhan, Pranab; Roemer, John E. (1992). „Market Socialism: A Case for Rejuvenation”. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 6 (3): 101—116. ISSN 0895-3309
^Britain, Ian (2005) [1982]. Fabianism and Culture: A Study in British Socialism and the Arts, c. 1884–1918. Cambridge University Press. Lijevi centar
^Hinnfors, Jonas (2006). Reinterpreting Social Democracy: A History of Stability in the British Labour Party and Swedish Social Democratic Party. Critical Labour Movement Studies. Manchester University Press. Lijevi centar
^Janowsky, Oscar Isaiah (1959). Foundations of Israel: Emergence of a Welfare State. Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand.