Fellow traveller

Fellow traveller is a term used to describe a person who sympathises and supports the philosophy, aims or methods of a political party or movement, but is not a member of that party and may actually deny supporting it. The term is most often used of supporters of communist parties in democratic nations, though it has also been applied to supporters of ultra-right-wing parties.

In some cases, maintaining a fellow traveller status may be more beneficial than official membership, as the person could secretly provide support to the movement while in an official position. For example, a person who is a United States government employee might also support communist ideals, but supporting such a movement may cause issues with employment (such as loss of a security clearance); therefore, the person officially denies any such support, while providing classified material to the movement.