Political compass
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A political compass or political diamond is a multi-axis model used to label or organize political thought on several dimensions. There are several competing political compasses, with varying number of axes.
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[edit] Overview
A similar illustration appeared in Floodgates of Anarchy;[1] however, the term "Political Compass" is under copyright by a website which uses responses to a set of propositions to rate political views on two axes: Economic (Left-Right) and Social (Authoritarian-Libertarian).[2] The site also includes an explanation of the two-axis system they use, a few charts which place various past and present political figures according to their estimation, and reading lists for each of the main political orientations.
The underlying principle of the Political Compass is that political views may be better measured along two separate and independent axes. The Economic (Left-Right) axis measures one's opinion of how the economy should be run: "left" is defined as the view that the economy should be run by a cooperative collective agency (which can mean the state, but can also mean a network of communes), while "right" is defined as the view that the economy should be left to the devices of competing individuals and organisations. The other axis (Authoritarian-Libertarian) measures one's political opinions in a social sense, regarding a view of the appropriate amount of personal freedom: "libertarianism" is defined as the belief that personal freedom should be maximised, while "authoritarianism" is defined as the belief that authority and tradition should be obeyed.
The labels given to the different fields and axes on the compass are based on long-standing European and Commonwealth terminology, which can be different to those used in the politics of the United States.
The website does not explain its scoring system in detail[3] or reveal the people behind it[4] beyond the fact that it seems to be based in the UK[5]. According to the New York Times, the site is the work of Wayne Brittenden, a political journalist[6].
[edit] See also
- Cleavage (politics)
- Political spectrum: discusses the dimensionality concept at length.
- Nolan Chart
- Pournelle chart
- Horseshoe theory
[edit] References
- ^ Meltzer, Albert; Stuart Christie (1970). Floodgates of Anarchy. ISBN 0900707038.
- ^ "The Political Compass". http://www.politicalcompass.org/index. Retrieved on 3 December 2008.
- ^ FAQ Q24
- ^ FAQ Q29
- ^ Seminars
- ^ New York Times: Online Diary December 4, 2003
