The Political Compass

[stormwyrm]

A long time ago I found a site, PoliticalCompass.org, that basically plots the political spectrum on two dimensions instead of the traditional left-right divide. Basically it divides the spectrum into an authoritarian and libertarian (in the sense of social, not economic libertarianism) axis, and an economic one of collectivist (left) vs. free market (right). So the spectrum makes four quadrants, the authoritarian left (red), where you see figures like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, the authoritarian right (blue), inhabited by folks like Benito Mussolini, Margaret Thatcher, and the vast majority of present-day politicians (Trump and Biden both), the libertarian left (green), where we have the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, and the libertarian right (violet), where we have folks like Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand. Me? I fall squarely in the green quadrant, at -5.88 on the economic scale and -7.28 on social scale.



I'm getting the feeling that most of us out here might fall more on the lower, more libertarian axis of the spectrum, but much more spread out on the economic axis. Give it a shot and see where you stand.

[Fox Lokison]

Economic Left/Right: -8.0
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.79



Unsurprising, that's usually where I test. The closest political systems to my believes would probably be ancoms. Tho I try not to label myself all that much.

[Fox Lokison]

*to my BELIEFS

Voice to text really hates me.

[Beorning]

Economic Left/Right: -1.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41

[Iniquitous]

[Iniquitous]

Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

[Aiden]

[HannibalBarca]

Yeah, I'm down there by Emma Goldman.  Not bad company.

[Mechelle]

Everybody who has posted so far is in the same corner, I notice!

My results were what I expected. I had done this a few years ago, and can't remember exactly what I got then, but I can't imagine they were too different. It was pretty apparent what some of the questions were intending, so it could be tempting to answer what you believed you should think rather than what you did think, but I wonder if anybody was surprised by their results.

[Yukina]

Seems about correct.

[Aiden]

People who tested on the right are unlikely to post their results.

Lots of "closeted" GOP supporters now that a good portion of them are traitors.

[Humble Scribe]

I'm seeing a pattern here...

[Fox Lokison]

I've noticed that most people who engage in discourse here tend to be hovering around the center, center-left, with less authoritarian beliefs. I mean, most of the threads in PROC right about now are lists of complaints about the government, the political parties, politicians, their handling of events... authoritarians are significantly less willing to be critical of their government, so that might factor in.

[Keelan]

I've noticed that most people who engage in discourse here tend to be hovering around the center, center-left, with less authoritarian beliefs. I mean, most of the threads in PROC right about now are lists of complaints about the government, the political parties, politicians, their handling of events... authoritarians are significantly less willing to be critical of their government, so that might factor in.

Funny you say that because, well...

This test struck me as weird when I took it, which before I discuss that here are my results:



That's Economic Left/Right: -0.25, and Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.33, by the way, bottom-left like everyone else's thus far, if only barely.

The weirdness was the type that set off my psych-study instincts drilled into me from grad school, what with having no 'neutral' option and generally all the things I would be 'neutral' on given the option seemed to push me more economic left in my opinion. Immediately raised questions of validity for me as a result...

SO! I found a subreddit around Political Compass testing (because of COURSE there's a subreddit for that), located here: https://www.reddit.com/r/PoliticalCompass/ , and selected another one that seemed popular, specifically the one located here which in addition to having a neutral option in a 5-point Likert Scale (I think that's correct, goddamn I'm rusty at this research shit >.<) and also seemed more neutral in it's questioning, though as someone I talked to mentioned there was a tad reliance on the term 'inherently' in it: https://sapplyvalues.github.io/index.html

Results were thus, and for the love of god(s) DO NOT LINK THE IMAGE DIRECTLY IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS IT'S A GARBLED FUCK-YOU LONG LINK, I RAN MINE THROUGH DISCORD FIRST:



Overall, not a massive shift on the Liberal/Libertarian axis, but a much more notable shift on the left/right economic axis. Still relatively centrist, but it did flip me from Lib-Left (technically) to Lib-Right, and it was a general Authoritarian and Right shift.

My curiosity officially piqued (I think I got the right spelling there), I sought out a 3rd one from that subreddit, this one being notably longer with an 11-point Likert Scale though it doesn't let you select the Neutral/0 rating, and also had issues linking the direct image again: https://politigram-compass.github.io/test/

Results were as follows:



So, right off the bat it is almost EXACTLY the same on both axis (axes? I forget : P) and also on the progressive/conservative scale as test 2. In fact... here's an overlay of all 3 tests:



While all are fairly centrist, my latter 2 tests were almost exact, but all still relatively close to center, though again it's fairly telling that the latter 2 were damn near exact.

SO! I reached out to some friends on discord that shall remain anonymous to see if they could do comparative testing as well, of which I got 1 person who did tests 1 and 2 but provided no pics, 2 that provided pics for test 1 and 2 but not 3, and 1 that provided pics for all 3 tests. The results are as follows:

Person 1: Test 1 they were HEAVILY Libertarian, and moderately Left, while in Test 2 they were slightly libertarian, and slightly left, putting them about mirror with my results in tests 2 and 3 if we flipped them along the Y axis. This reflects a MASSIVE jump in Authoritarian scoring (though they both reflected Libertarian-Left results, just the second was closer to center), and a slight Right shift.

Person 2 & 3:




Now, much like person 1, there was a MASSIVE jump in authoritarian shift from test 1 to test 2 (person 3 here provided them in reverse-order of course), and again a slight shift right as well. Consistent with the report of person 1, however, which just leaves us with...

Person 4, who provided me with an overlay of all 3 in addition to the first 2:



Once again, between test 1 and 2, there was a MASSIVE shift towards Authoritarian, and a slight shift toward Right, with the 3rd test showing results more similar to the 2nd test than to the 1st.

So, to recap: All 5 of us who took test 1 had results that were more Libertarian and Left than the results of test 2, and for those of us who took test 3, our results more closely resembled the results of test 2 than test 1.

Obviously, this is not a full study sort of thing; it's 5 people of which I'm one of them, I don't have any citations to support validity of any of the individual tests, and realistically I started this whole thing about 5 hours ago as a way to kill time and appease my own curiosity. I do however find it curious that literally EVERYONE who has posted a result thus far has been Libertarian-Left, including the 5 of us included in my post of which other tests only puts 1 of us in that quadrant, but noticeably closer to Center than in the test that spawned this thread.

As this has been surprisingly fun for me, I think I'm going to keep looking into these things and adding to this mess I've made above...

[Fox Lokison]

I really liked that breakdown. My father just took the test, just for fun (he was curious) and we both remarked on the same thing with the lack of a neutral option.

Another thing I thought of was the fact that those questions are pretty stilted. Aside from the religion ones, most are pretty clearly moral questions asked in a rather provocative manner. One might answer them not based on their own opinions so much as what opinions they think would be societally acceptable. The few people who don't care what society thinks are going to answer obviously loaded questions with the authoritarian answers.

There's something to be said about that, LOL.

I really liked your breakdown though! I have heard that it's hard to get authoritarian on it, but seeing it broken down it neat.

[Chulanowa]

A long time ago I found a site, PoliticalCompass.org, that basically plots the political spectrum on two dimensions instead of the traditional left-right divide. Basically it divides the spectrum into an authoritarian and libertarian (in the sense of social, not economic libertarianism) axis, and an economic one of collectivist (left) vs. free market (right). So the spectrum makes four quadrants, the authoritarian left (red), where you see figures like Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong, the authoritarian right (blue), inhabited by folks like Benito Mussolini, Margaret Thatcher, and the vast majority of present-day politicians (Trump and Biden both), the libertarian left (green), where we have the likes of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, and the libertarian right (violet), where we have folks like Milton Friedman and Ayn Rand. Me? I fall squarely in the green quadrant, at -5.88 on the economic scale and -7.28 on social scale.



I'm getting the feeling that most of us out here might fall more on the lower, more libertarian axis of the spectrum, but much more spread out on the economic axis. Give it a shot and see where you stand.

Well, there's a reason that it consistently puts people who take it somewhere in the "libertarian" spectrum; it was invented in 1969 by a founder of the American Libertarian Party, David Nolan, expressly for the purposes of convincing people that "hey you're really a libertarian, you should vote for my party!" It's literally propaganda. When it appeared on hte internet in its current form in the 1990's, it followed pretty much hte same pattern; there's never any information on how the questions are weighted, and the questions themselves are... kind of weird. Like this one:

Those with the ability to pay should have access to higher standards of medical care.

It assumes that health care is a luxury commodity right out of hte gate. There is no consideration of health care for poorer people, only that richer people should (or shouldn't) have access to better. So the available answers, in reality are "yes rich people should have access to better care" or "no, their care should be crappy no matter how rich they are."

Or this one:

Taxpayers should not be expected to prop up any theatres or museums that cannot survive on a commercial basis.

"Taxpayers" don't actually pay for things (except for a few things that are explicitly tied to taxes, like Medicare and their local school districts). So the question is simply false right out the gate. But more, it also assumes that the reactionary (and incorrect) idea that "that's MY money the government is spending, it shouldn't go to things I personally dislike!" is the default, universal truth.

Or how about...

A significant advantage of a one-party state is that it avoids all the arguments that delay progress in a democratic political system.

I mean... this is just blatantly true. If we look at single-party states past and present, we see that yes, they have way easier times getting hte government's agenda through than in multiparty states. if you "strongly disagree" then you're just factually wrong. And why would you "strongly" agree or disagree, it's simply not a matter of opinion. Now, if the question asked whether single-party states are better for the people who live in them, then you can have an arguable opinion.

And finally, the test doesn't even live up to its own premise. It asserts that Stalin and Mao (and communism in general, apparently) falls in the upper-left corner, "authoritarian" and "leftist" correct? Okay, well... when we answer every question according to Soviet policy under Stalin, filling hte gaps with Maoist principle (and lingering gaps with answers based on general Marxist theory) we should see that dot up in hte upper left quadrant of the upper left quadrant, right?

Well...


The same thing happens when we do Hitler, who (by the test's standards) turns out to be an authoritarian centrist, I guess?

And boy let me tell you it's hard to put in answers more extreme than that dude's necessitated.

The "test" is at best an internet toy, and at worst, intentional propaganda that has misled a TON of people about how politics works.

[Keelan]

I really liked that breakdown. My father just took the test, just for fun (he was curious) and we both remarked on the same thing with the lack of a neutral option.

Another thing I thought of was the fact that those questions are pretty stilted. Aside from the religion ones, most are pretty clearly moral questions asked in a rather provocative manner. One might answer them not based on their own opinions so much as what opinions they think would be societally acceptable. The few people who don't care what society thinks are going to answer obviously loaded questions with the authoritarian answers.

There's something to be said about that, LOL.

I really liked your breakdown though! I have heard that it's hard to get authoritarian on it, but seeing it broken down it neat.

Glad you did! Since I no longer work in my field of study (Clinical Psychology), this type of stuff is actually fun to do at times :3

Funny you mention 'stilted' questions: I went back to the original test's site and found they had a FAQ page, linked here: https://www.politicalcompass.org/faq

Here are some highlights:

Some of the questions are slanted
Most of them are slanted! Some right-wingers accuse us of a leftward slant. Some left-wingers accuse us of a rightward slant. But it’s important to realise that this isn’t a survey, and these aren’t questions. They’re propositions — an altogether different proposition. To question the logic of individual ones that irritate you is to miss the point. Some propositions are extreme, and some are more moderate. That’s how we can show you whether you lean towards extremism or moderation on the Compass.

The propositions should not be overthought. Some of them are intentionally vague. Their purpose is to trigger reactions in the mind, measuring feelings and prejudices rather than detailed opinions on policy.

Incidentally, our test is not another internet personality classification tool. The essence of our site is the model for political analysis. The test is simply a demonstration of it.

Some of the propositions are culturally biased
Right. That’s why the Compass is being promoted in western democracies. We don’t pretend that, for example, the responses of a citizen of a rural region of China can undergo the same evaluation process.

My position on The Political Compass™ is at odds with the politicians I support
Politicians often speak in codes that disguise actual policy, with the aim of appealing to as broad a spectrum of the public as possible.

While the individual may identify with particular figures, if their positions and the consequences of those positions are acted upon, they may disagree.

The propositions in the test give the respondent an all-too-rare chance to consider many situations. Their reactions are sometimes quite different from the positions of their favourite politicians.

For example, a conservative person may be straightforwardly opposed to universal health care, but disagree with a proposition suggesting that the quality of a child’s health care should be governed by the health of the parents’ finances.

In some cases none of the four possible responses reflected my attitude
One expert in the field suggested that we restrict the responses to simply ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’. But how many do you need? Ten? Twenty? If you choose the one that most nearly reflects your feeling, you’ll get an accurate reading … even if it niggles.

You should have a “don’t know” option
This makes it too easy for people to duck difficult issues. By forcing people to take a positive or negative stance, the propositions make people really evaluate their feelings. Often people find they wanted to select “don’t know” mainly because they’d never really thought about the idea.

Reads in my personal opinion that they're a tad aware that there's slant, and as Chulanowa is pointing out there may be some history to the test to consider. This is why I mentioned I couldn't confirm validity of any of the other tests either, as I don't know how things are weighted for one, but my gut instinct is that the other 2 I found are a BIT more accurate than this one (again personal opinion).

[Fox Lokison]

Oh this is hella interesting (to both Keelan and Chulanowa, y'all went in on this). One part really sticks out to me here.

You should have a “don’t know” option
This makes it too easy for people to duck difficult issues. By forcing people to take a positive or negative stance, the propositions make people really evaluate their feelings. Often people find they wanted to select “don’t know” mainly because they’d never really thought about the idea.

That only works as an idea if people lead with their feelings, and KNOW that within the test. It's like a psychological evaluation, in that. You get hit with a bunch of questions, and you'll often react with, well, your reaction. Which can be dictated by society at large. Someone who feels strongly about a question, but has dealt with stigma and backlash for this belief socially, might instinctively respond with a more moderate response, despite feeling some other way about it, due to sensitivity.

I've found it's much more likely that people are going to respond based on what they THINK they should say, even in a private, closed quiz, rather than what they might hold close to their heart. If that's not mentioned at the head of the test, I wouldn't put stock in people "really evaluating their feelings", myself. It doesn't present that way?

Interesting way to go about it, though!

[Keelan]

Oh this is hella interesting (to both Keelan and Chulanowa, y'all went in on this). One part really sticks out to me here.

That only works as an idea if people lead with their feelings, and KNOW that within the test. It's like a psychological evaluation, in that. You get hit with a bunch of questions, and you'll often react with, well, your reaction. Which can be dictated by society at large. Someone who feels strongly about a question, but has dealt with stigma and backlash for this belief socially, might instinctively respond with a more moderate response, despite feeling some other way about it, due to sensitivity.

I've found it's much more likely that people are going to respond based on what they THINK they should say, even in a private, closed quiz, rather than what they might hold close to their heart. If that's not mentioned at the head of the test, I wouldn't put stock in people "really evaluating their feelings", myself. It doesn't present that way?

Interesting way to go about it, though!

Interesting enough, they address that too! :3

Respondents are going to feel under pressure to be politically correct
Not really, because we’ve assured them that not only are their identities unknown, but their responses totally unrecorded. So the only actual pressure will come from themselves. We’ve found that a lot of people aren’t comfortable with the first result, so they go through the propositions again, changing some of their earlier responses. It’s a bit like an overweight person stepping back on the scales after removing their shoes.

I definitely encourage the reading of their FAQ, as it's very telling, for they seem to have an answer for a LOT of observations and criticisms that seem to say 'hey guys, the test is fine, I swear!' I plan to go through the subreddit I found later and see if I can find more that might be more valid, because at this point I'm having a goddamn blast :3

[Fox Lokison]

All I can think is "This is vital information that might have been better suited OUTSIDE the FAQs" LOL.

But yes, I'm reading it now and I gotta say I feel the same, it definitely seems like they thought through some arguments that might come their way. Given what Chulanowa just said about the history, I can see why.

[Blythe]

Neat test. My goal was to not think too long about the questions and to answer my first basic impulses, since I know I tend to overthink if I give myself a chance to. So I finished it pretty quick.

My results:



This matched what I expected to get. I generally do identify as a somewhat moderate-left slightly anti-authoritarian person politically nowadays, with some exceptions depending on specific topics.

[Skynet]

The problem with the political compass is that quite a few questions are leading questions. "I’d always support my country, whether it was right or wrong" is something that almost nobody in the English-speaking world agrees with regardless of their stance on the spectrum. Similarly, "Our race has many superior qualities, compared with other races" is something that is believed by a lot of white supremacists, but they'd never say that part in public or mixed company. Other questions are more or less apolitical personality traits. "When you are troubled, it’s better not to think about it, but to keep busy with more cheerful things" is honestly a line of thinking that I've seen common among liberals, conservatives, and more extremist ideologies. Worrying too much about, well anything, is something common to all ideologies.

It's also kind of why I find people who film themselves taking the test deceptive; they know that they have an audience, so they're not going to agree with the more unpopular stances.

Chulanowa's revelation on the creator's political bias is also good, too.

[Humble Scribe]

There's a self-selection bias too. People on an erotica site that can deal with various kinks are probably going to lean left libertarian. Having said that, I did feel a bias in the questions and the lack of a 'don't care' option. Other similar tests have placed me approximately on the axis for left-right but skewed further towards libertarian.

[Beorning]

Hmmmm. I tried Keelan's second test and here's what I got:

https://sapplyvalues.github.io/results.html?right=-1.33&auth=1.33&prog=3.13

So, now I'm almost perfectly in the centre, with slight tendency for the left and for authorianism (huh?). Also, somewhat progressive.

Not sure I agree? That test is a bit weird, I had trouble answering some questions. Maybe that skewed my results somewhat...

[TheGlyphstone]

So for full disclosure, I was John Doe #1 in Keelan's original post.

I decided to take all three now, keeping my charts for comparison.


So far, between Tests 1 and 2, I definitely noticed some editorializing intended to slant answers. Test 1 asked a question about whether two consenting adults should be allowed to do whatever they like in private, while Test 2 added "even if it makes me uncomfortable". Test 1's question about the death penalty specified 'most severe crimes', while Test 2 only asked 'for certain crimes'. Test #3's language was closer to #2, with a few direct copies. There were a few other questions like that, and this wording definitely altered my answers, which likely explains part of my shift in charts.

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