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I am looking for a noun that represents someone's lack of stance on an issue (either political, religious, etc).

Used in a sentence, it would be something along the lines of:

"His _____ has failed to garner the support of either party."

I'm not aware of a single word that meets this definition; however, I'm open for your suggestions.

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  • How about neutrality? The state of not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartiality. His neutrality has failed to garner the support of either party.
    – Grizzly
    Commented Nov 27, 2015 at 3:12
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    'Neutrality' does describe it; however, that 'neutrality' would be expected to fail to garner support, so it doesn't quite fit in the example sentence. If you're willing to take an adjective, 'noncommittal' as in "noncommittal stance has failed to garner support etc." might be less dissonant.
    – JEL
    Commented Nov 27, 2015 at 3:20

4 Answers 4

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Fence sitting is a common term I know of.

It also gives the impression that the person isn't quite sure which side to take, as if lacking the character to stand on one side or another.

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If 'he' regards the issue as insignificant, or is unaware of it, you could use 'ignorance,' 'disinterest,' or 'indifference.' Alternatively, if he has decided to remain uninvolved, you could use 'neutrality.' As JEL suggested, noncommittal would also be a great word.

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"His steadfast neutrality on most issues has failed to garner the support of either party."

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A person in this portion is said to be sitting n the fence, so,you could use "fence-sitting" as a noun.

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    Commented Feb 8, 2016 at 6:10

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