My authoritarian take on you comes from your support of state military power (specifically American state military power), i.e. the "my butcher is better than your butcher" argument... that's pretty damn authoritarian IMO.
>>My authoritarian take on you comes from your support of state military power (specifically American state military power), i.e. the "my butcher is better than your butcher" argument... that's pretty damn authoritarian IMO.<<
I don't see that as authoritarian. Support for regimes which allow a free press and basic civil rights over regimes which don't, even if the ones you settle for are still not perfect, seems to me to be pragmatic. And I don't see authoritarianism as having anything to do with foreign policy.
Dave
29 -
godoggo
Jan 23, 2005 at 1:20 am
Dunno why nobody shared my sisyphean experience with the test. The "let's see where you stand" kept taking me back to the "sex" page.
One other thing, I think "left libertarian" is a more common term than "liberal libertarian." The former is how Chomsky identifies himself.
BTW, once or twice I would've liked a neutral/no opinion option. Here's something I learn in a survery methods class in school, although I googled this specific quote: "The most common scale for multiple-choice questions in opinion surveys is the five-point Likert scale. Dr. Rensis Likert, of the University of Michigan, developed this scale many years ago for behavioral sciences research. It is widely accepted because it offers a convenient range of choices that meets the needs of most situations."
30 -
Dan
Jan 23, 2005 at 1:29 am
I'm a 'Political Compass' dropout. I got through about four pages of questions. I felt like I was being channeled into a milquetoast 'center of the road' political centrist position that I would, in review, disagree with. (similar to RJ's experience)
My addendum to most questions would be: yeah, but... or no, however... The only thing I "strongly agreed/disagreed" to was: "you should always question authority".
It would be nice if there were a more comprehensive political ideology spectrum test. Maybe similar to the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory test.
Katherine: I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions. That being said, I wasn't really surprised by where I "landed," so perhaps the enterprise is more brilliant than I/we give it credit for.
I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions.
I agree Eric, I felt a lot of the questions were like so many others in 'polling' situations... the answer depends on how you word it. For example: Do you believe that some prisoners cannot be rehabilitated... well of course, there is no rehabilitating a Jeffrey Dahlmer. But there wasn't a "do you believe that most can"... so the answer you get is skewed by how you ask the question.
The original test I took had some pretty skewed questions as to Israel/ Palestine (which this one left out) of which the response I would have given, if given the option, was "none of the above"...
ugh-- There isn't a 'none of the above/don't care' answer. Some questions need more definition.
I like the Worlds Smallest Political Quiz better.
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html
Some of you have written that there should have been an option to answer "none of the above" on the test. The FAQ at Political Compass gives the following answer:
"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."
From what I've read from some of the responses here, there should be a z-axis that deals with military and foreign policy issues which would provide us with a three-dimensional evaluation of our political beliefs in relation to others. Perhaps I will create one.
But don't anybody start waiting with bated breath because while coding such a test in HTML and PHP is pretty simple (yes, I am a geek), knowing what sort of questions to ask and how to weigh the answers will require some further study.
I took the quia twice, I took it Friday evening after a "few" beers at my local hangout. Then I took it Saturday afternoon, stone cold sober. I was curious to see how different I would score. I scored the same in the libertarian/authoritarian field in both quizzes, 0.15. I went from 2.45 to 4.45 on the left right scale. I'm not sure if that means I give a shit more or less when I've been drinking!
While some of the questions are biased to the left of things. Its not a bad judge of politics. Needless to say I come up with straight libertarian on Worlds Smallest Quiz. In this one I came up thusly:
Economic Left/Right: 9.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.05
>>Katherine: I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions. That being said, I wasn't really surprised by where I "landed," so perhaps the enterprise is more brilliant than I/we give it credit for.
<<
Eric: my name is spelled Katharine and not Katherine. And, I'm willing to admit that the quiz is more brilliant than I gave it credit for. I wasn't surprised at where I landed, either. But as for better questions, I think the suggestion of a z-axis would probably help that.
Interesting quiz:
Economic Left/Right: -0.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.23
I find it interesting how the questions were phrased - I might have answered some questions differently if they were phrased more neutrally. Also, mathematically, we could increase the number of dimensions/axes on this graph, and possibly make it more accurate (and complex) - One more axis could be family/society.
Economic Left/Right: 1.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.21
I'll take the test tomorrow and I bet I come up with different answers. Too many question failed to distinguish between my personal desires and what I think the government should be able to do, in my opinion.
The Political Compass is an interesting quiz, but it has a few quirks. I don't think it is equipped to deal well with someone who is both totally in favor of decreasing regulations on sexual activity, and also believes that some of the "sex lib" movement has gone too far. It also seems to have trouble with people who support religious schooling (by choice) without simultaneously supporting theocratic government. [They have changed the wording of one of the questions since I first took the quiz, which changed my score somewhat.] It also has a few questions in which there are not suitable answers, or that require another level of discussion to fully explain.
Another interesting quiz can be found at Politopia, which seems to be a little more flexible, but is also geared towards American values, as opposed to European values, like the Compass.
FWIW:
Economic: 6.63
Social: -0.05
(On the Politopia quiz, I live about two blocks west of Drew Carey, which shows how similar quizzes can come up with different results.
I´ve been away from the net for awhile and am coming to this late. I caught where you said:
'In terms of economics, I've always been to the Left, but I I've slid waaaaay to the Left only within the last few months, and I have to say it's probably solely due to reading the ideology of the conservatives and libertarians here at BlogCritics.
Having known what they want, I still fall to the Left. But now knowing why they want what they want, slams me against the far wall on the Left.'
I´ll have to assume that I have contributed in a large way to your reactions, since I´ve argued the libertarian case as much as anyone and directly with you.
I accept that you and I will likely not ever agree on some economic issues, such as the ownership of resources, and that´s cool. I feel I have failed badly, though, in the area of individual liberties, in relating how the government that can intrude upon your individual liberties can similarly intrude upon your personal finances, that today´s personal finances become tomorrow´s corporate finances, and that the fundamental principle is the same in authorizing the governmental interferences into either individual liberties and finances.
Online Pharmacy: I really appreciate blogs like this one becuase it allows me to spam the URL of Mexican pill-pushers of dubious reputation all over the intennet and earn a commission.
What more need be said?
Dave
50 -
John
Jul 15, 2006 at 6:17 am
Why not add a third dimension, like Egalitarian/Elitist. Then you could have a cube. Add a fourth dimension, like Nationalistic/Globalistic and you get a four dimensional hypercube. Add a fifth dimension, like Violent/Pacifist, and you get another dimension.
That two dimensional chart separates the economic dimension from the cultural dimension. It is designed to create some political unity among "libertarians" to get them to separate from the Democrats and join the economic right (aka, capitalists).
In other words, it's NOT A NEUTRAL TEST but a political organizing tool.
Wow, this article is from January 2005! Usually, when I get email about new comments to older posts here on BC, it's spam.
John writes, "It is designed to create some political unity among "libertarians" to get them to separate from the Democrats and join the economic right (aka, capitalists)."
Indeed, it is. It also separates libertarian Republicans (note the lower-case "L") from authoritarian Republicans.
The Political Compass is somewhat loosely based upon the “World's Smallest Political Quiz," which is used by the Libertarian Party (not to be confused with libertarianism, which is not a political party, but an ideology) as political organizing tool.
53 -
Jalesya
Jul 14, 2012 at 8:25 am
Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.18
That is what I got on my test which does sound like me in a whole perspective.
54 -
Lauren
Nov 06, 2012 at 5:34 pm
My scale is
Economic Left/Right: -0.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.03
I landed just to the Right of Nelson Mandela. Which makes sense because I agree with most ideas I've heard from him.
Article comments
26 - spiderleaf
My authoritarian take on you comes from your support of state military power (specifically American state military power), i.e. the "my butcher is better than your butcher" argument... that's pretty damn authoritarian IMO.
27 - RJ
My score:
Economic Left/Right: 2.13
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.15
I must say I'm a bit surprised. I thought I would have a negative rating in the latter field. But some of the questions WERE a bit ambiguous...
28 - Dave Nalle
>>My authoritarian take on you comes from your support of state military power (specifically American state military power), i.e. the "my butcher is better than your butcher" argument... that's pretty damn authoritarian IMO.<<
I don't see that as authoritarian. Support for regimes which allow a free press and basic civil rights over regimes which don't, even if the ones you settle for are still not perfect, seems to me to be pragmatic. And I don't see authoritarianism as having anything to do with foreign policy.
Dave
29 - godoggo
Dunno why nobody shared my sisyphean experience with the test. The "let's see where you stand" kept taking me back to the "sex" page.
One other thing, I think "left libertarian" is a more common term than "liberal libertarian." The former is how Chomsky identifies himself.
BTW, once or twice I would've liked a neutral/no opinion option. Here's something I learn in a survery methods class in school, although I googled this specific quote: "The most common scale for multiple-choice questions in opinion surveys is the five-point Likert scale. Dr. Rensis Likert, of the University of Michigan, developed this scale many years ago for behavioral sciences research. It is widely accepted because it offers a convenient range of choices that meets the needs of most situations."
30 - Dan
I'm a 'Political Compass' dropout. I got through about four pages of questions. I felt like I was being channeled into a milquetoast 'center of the road' political centrist position that I would, in review, disagree with. (similar to RJ's experience)
My addendum to most questions would be: yeah, but... or no, however... The only thing I "strongly agreed/disagreed" to was: "you should always question authority".
It would be nice if there were a more comprehensive political ideology spectrum test. Maybe similar to the Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory test.
31 - Eric Berlin
Katherine: I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions. That being said, I wasn't really surprised by where I "landed," so perhaps the enterprise is more brilliant than I/we give it credit for.
32 - spiderleaf
I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions.
I agree Eric, I felt a lot of the questions were like so many others in 'polling' situations... the answer depends on how you word it. For example: Do you believe that some prisoners cannot be rehabilitated... well of course, there is no rehabilitating a Jeffrey Dahlmer. But there wasn't a "do you believe that most can"... so the answer you get is skewed by how you ask the question.
The original test I took had some pretty skewed questions as to Israel/ Palestine (which this one left out) of which the response I would have given, if given the option, was "none of the above"...
33 - Angela Chen Shui
Thanks, Margaret. Both useful and fun. Visuals are so powerful...
The axis approach facilitates inclusiveness, appreciation of diversity and conversation about the existing common ground.
A bit south of both Ghandi and Mandela and a bit west of the Dalai Lama.
Who would have guessed? ;-)
34 - diane
ugh-- There isn't a 'none of the above/don't care' answer. Some questions need more definition.
I like the Worlds Smallest Political Quiz better.
http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html
35 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Some of you have written that there should have been an option to answer "none of the above" on the test. The FAQ at Political Compass gives the following answer:
"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."
From what I've read from some of the responses here, there should be a z-axis that deals with military and foreign policy issues which would provide us with a three-dimensional evaluation of our political beliefs in relation to others. Perhaps I will create one.
But don't anybody start waiting with bated breath because while coding such a test in HTML and PHP is pretty simple (yes, I am a geek), knowing what sort of questions to ask and how to weigh the answers will require some further study.
36 - andy marsh
I took the quia twice, I took it Friday evening after a "few" beers at my local hangout. Then I took it Saturday afternoon, stone cold sober. I was curious to see how different I would score. I scored the same in the libertarian/authoritarian field in both quizzes, 0.15. I went from 2.45 to 4.45 on the left right scale. I'm not sure if that means I give a shit more or less when I've been drinking!
37 - Marty Dodge
While some of the questions are biased to the left of things. Its not a bad judge of politics. Needless to say I come up with straight libertarian on Worlds Smallest Quiz. In this one I came up thusly:
Economic Left/Right: 9.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.05
38 - Katharine Donelson
>>Katherine: I'm led to believe that they could have much better questions. That being said, I wasn't really surprised by where I "landed," so perhaps the enterprise is more brilliant than I/we give it credit for.
<<
Eric: my name is spelled Katharine and not Katherine. And, I'm willing to admit that the quiz is more brilliant than I gave it credit for. I wasn't surprised at where I landed, either. But as for better questions, I think the suggestion of a z-axis would probably help that.
39 - Eric Berlin
Katharine,: my apologies. Your response regarding your name reminds me very much of an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm from the first season.
40 - Katharine Donelson
Having never seen Curb Your Enthusiasm, I can only hope that's a good thing.
41 - Eric Berlin
It had to be with people that are very concerned with how their names are pronounced.
42 - Eric Berlin
Meant to say, "had to do with..."
43 - Aaman
Interesting quiz:
Economic Left/Right: -0.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.23
I find it interesting how the questions were phrased - I might have answered some questions differently if they were phrased more neutrally. Also, mathematically, we could increase the number of dimensions/axes on this graph, and possibly make it more accurate (and complex) - One more axis could be family/society.
44 - Phillip Winn
Economic Left/Right: 1.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.21
I'll take the test tomorrow and I bet I come up with different answers. Too many question failed to distinguish between my personal desires and what I think the government should be able to do, in my opinion.
45 - timekeeper
The Political Compass is an interesting quiz, but it has a few quirks. I don't think it is equipped to deal well with someone who is both totally in favor of decreasing regulations on sexual activity, and also believes that some of the "sex lib" movement has gone too far. It also seems to have trouble with people who support religious schooling (by choice) without simultaneously supporting theocratic government. [They have changed the wording of one of the questions since I first took the quiz, which changed my score somewhat.] It also has a few questions in which there are not suitable answers, or that require another level of discussion to fully explain.
Another interesting quiz can be found at Politopia, which seems to be a little more flexible, but is also geared towards American values, as opposed to European values, like the Compass.
FWIW:
Economic: 6.63
Social: -0.05
(On the Politopia quiz, I live about two blocks west of Drew Carey, which shows how similar quizzes can come up with different results.
46 - Angela Chen Shui
I like the z-axis idea, Margaret.
47 - bhw
Here's my old score:
Economic Left/Right: -5.88
Authoritarian/Libertarian: -6.87
Here's my new score:
Economic Left/Right: -5.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.90
Look at that. Same exact economic score! And I'm a touch more authoritarian that I was in the past? That makes no sense to me.
48 - Mike Kole
Steve-
I´ve been away from the net for awhile and am coming to this late. I caught where you said:
'In terms of economics, I've always been to the Left, but I I've slid waaaaay to the Left only within the last few months, and I have to say it's probably solely due to reading the ideology of the conservatives and libertarians here at BlogCritics.
Having known what they want, I still fall to the Left. But now knowing why they want what they want, slams me against the far wall on the Left.'
I´ll have to assume that I have contributed in a large way to your reactions, since I´ve argued the libertarian case as much as anyone and directly with you.
I accept that you and I will likely not ever agree on some economic issues, such as the ownership of resources, and that´s cool. I feel I have failed badly, though, in the area of individual liberties, in relating how the government that can intrude upon your individual liberties can similarly intrude upon your personal finances, that today´s personal finances become tomorrow´s corporate finances, and that the fundamental principle is the same in authorizing the governmental interferences into either individual liberties and finances.
You keep me sharp, Steve. Thanks!
49 - Dave Nalle
Online Pharmacy: I really appreciate blogs like this one becuase it allows me to spam the URL of Mexican pill-pushers of dubious reputation all over the intennet and earn a commission.
What more need be said?
Dave
50 - John
Why not add a third dimension, like Egalitarian/Elitist. Then you could have a cube. Add a fourth dimension, like Nationalistic/Globalistic and you get a four dimensional hypercube. Add a fifth dimension, like Violent/Pacifist, and you get another dimension.
That two dimensional chart separates the economic dimension from the cultural dimension. It is designed to create some political unity among "libertarians" to get them to separate from the Democrats and join the economic right (aka, capitalists).
In other words, it's NOT A NEUTRAL TEST but a political organizing tool.
51 - gonzo marx
kinda glad this one was kicked to the top.... i missed it the first time around...
for the Record: i took the test honestly, and came out in the very close neighborhood to the Dali Lama
to me, a fine neighborhood to be in...
Economic Left/Right: -3.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.82
slightly to the economic Right of the Dalai Lama
sometimes i suprise myself
Excelsior?
52 - Margaret Romao Toigo
Wow, this article is from January 2005! Usually, when I get email about new comments to older posts here on BC, it's spam.
John writes, "It is designed to create some political unity among "libertarians" to get them to separate from the Democrats and join the economic right (aka, capitalists)."
Indeed, it is. It also separates libertarian Republicans (note the lower-case "L") from authoritarian Republicans.
The Political Compass is somewhat loosely based upon the “World's Smallest Political Quiz," which is used by the Libertarian Party (not to be confused with libertarianism, which is not a political party, but an ideology) as political organizing tool.
53 - Jalesya
Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 1.18
That is what I got on my test which does sound like me in a whole perspective.
54 - Lauren
My scale is
Economic Left/Right: -0.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.03
I landed just to the Right of Nelson Mandela. Which makes sense because I agree with most ideas I've heard from him.