posted Sunday, August 01, 2004 - 08:53 PM (#18861)
The Political Compass
Welcome to The Political Compass.
There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' , established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape. For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ?
On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them that the old categories on their own can't explain. Similarly, we generally describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet that leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the hook.
That's about as much as we should tell you for now. After you've responded to the following propositions during the next 3-5 minutes, all will be explained. In each instance, you're asked to choose the response that best describes your feeling: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree. At the end of the test, you'll be given the compass, with your own special position on it.
The test is entirely anonymous. None of your personal details are required, and nothing about your result is recorded or logged in any way. The answers are only used to calculate your reading, and cannot be accessed by anyone, ever.
The idea was developed by a political journalist with a university counselling background, assisted by a professor of social history. They're indebted to people like Wilhelm Reich and Theodor Adorno for their ground-breaking work in this field. We believe that, in an age of diminishing ideology, a new generation in particular will get a better idea of where they stand politically - and the sort of political company they keep.
So are you ready to take the test [f2s.com] ? Remember that there's no right, wrong or ideal response. It's simply a measure of attitudes and inevitable human contradictions to provide a more integrated definition of where people and parties are really at. Click here to start [f2s.com] .
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The first time i responded, i scored:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.65
Then i read this part of the FAQ:
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.
So i slipped off my shoes, so to speak, and answered the questions again. The second time around, i scored this way:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -9.08
I guess this shows my fundamental distrust of "the basic goodness of mankind"; yet at the same time, it reveals my love of individual liberty and personal freedom, which i somehow believe are among the key ingredients to "goodness" in human behavior. Is this self-contradictory? Is this a misinterpretation of my reactions to the questions? Is this an indicator of anything?
It's a very quick test, i recommend that you take it, then read the other sections of the site (the analysis, FAQ, etc). You might be surprised at some of the historical quotations they cite; you might be even more surprised at yo...
Read the rest of this comment...
Welcome to The Political Compass.
There's abundant evidence for the need of it. The old one-dimensional categories of 'right' and 'left' , established for the seating arrangement of the French National Assembly of 1789, are overly simplistic for today's complex political landscape. For example, who are the 'conservatives' in today's Russia? Are they the unreconstructed Stalinists, or the reformers who have adopted the right-wing views of conservatives like Margaret Thatcher ?
On the standard left-right scale, how do you distinguish leftists like Stalin and Gandhi? It's not sufficient to say that Stalin was simply more left than Gandhi. There are fundamental political differences between them that the old categories on their own can't explain. Similarly, we generally describe social reactionaries as 'right-wingers', yet that leaves left-wing reactionaries like Robert Mugabe and Pol Pot off the hook.
That's about as much as we should tell you for now. After you've responded to the following propositions during the next 3-5 minutes, all will be explained. In each instance, you're asked to choose the response that best describes your feeling: Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree. At the end of the test, you'll be given the compass, with your own special position on it.
The test is entirely anonymous. None of your personal details are required, and nothing about your result is recorded or logged in any way. The answers are only used to calculate your reading, and cannot be accessed by anyone, ever.
The idea was developed by a political journalist with a university counselling background, assisted by a professor of social history. They're indebted to people like Wilhelm Reich and Theodor Adorno for their ground-breaking work in this field. We believe that, in an age of diminishing ideology, a new generation in particular will get a better idea of where they stand politically - and the sort of political company they keep.
So are you ready to take the test [f2s.com] ? Remember that there's no right, wrong or ideal response. It's simply a measure of attitudes and inevitable human contradictions to provide a more integrated definition of where people and parties are really at. Click here to start [f2s.com] .
----------
The first time i responded, i scored:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.65
Then i read this part of the FAQ:
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.
So i slipped off my shoes, so to speak, and answered the questions again. The second time around, i scored this way:
Economic Left/Right: -6.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -9.08
I guess this shows my fundamental distrust of "the basic goodness of mankind"; yet at the same time, it reveals my love of individual liberty and personal freedom, which i somehow believe are among the key ingredients to "goodness" in human behavior. Is this self-contradictory? Is this a misinterpretation of my reactions to the questions? Is this an indicator of anything?
It's a very quick test, i recommend that you take it, then read the other sections of the site (the analysis, FAQ, etc). You might be surprised at some of the historical quotations they cite; you might be even more surprised at yo...
Read the rest of this comment...