The term political spectrum is a concept that models political beliefs and ideologies as a continuum, with left-wing liberalism and right-wing conservatism anchoring the two poles. A radical extreme of the far-left would be anarchism, with fascism its counterpart on the far-right and most people falling somewhere closer to the center on the political spectrum.
The use of left-wing and right-wing began in the 1789 French Revolution when the revolutionary camp tended to sit together on the left side of the French National Assembly and their aristocracy-favoring counterparts on the right. The center seats became associated with more moderate political views. French newspapers began identifying more socially liberal politicians as the left and more traditional, authoritarian politicians as the right.
The spread of democracy helped spread the left/right continuum, which became known as the political spectrum.
