The classic poles of politics were named by Thomas Sowell in A Conflict of Visions as the constrained and unconstrained visions, and Steven Pinker reworked them in The Blank Slate as the tragic and utopian visions: the right and left we all argue about.
I would rename the poles Reason and Compassion. Reason should guide us to a just and effective government, and it should always be tempered by an understanding of human nature and by empathy in governance. The prudent stance is a hybrid, with historical timing deciding what is expedient. Sowell’s account seems largely right but partial to his libertarian reading of the constrained vision, and I disagree that either vision is as likely to cause harm as the other; the harm each engenders is particular to history, not to the vision. That opinion may be premature. Many self-described centrists find conservatives hard to talk to because the conservative pole has shifted rightward; the centrist position is reason plus compassion, leaning slightly left, and “balance” captures it.
Three smaller convictions. Vote for the politicians whose views and policies most closely match your own. The family and social stratum you are born into is sheer luck, the lottery of birth, and it pays to remember it. And beware blinding, hateful feelings: such emotions have fueled countless atrocities, and the dark side is more real than we think.