Where are you on the Political Compass?

[Lorien]

And how close are you to your candidate?
https://www.politicalcompass.org/test

Evaluation of the leading Primary candidates: http://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2016

[elana i am]

1. left libertarian

smack in the middle of the green quadrant.
Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.13
eta: fyi i think you might have posted this in the wrong forum.

[Lorien]

4. I figured since it relates to the primary candidates

this would be the correct forum, but I wasn't sure.

[Hortensis]

42. OMG! That graph is BOGUS. Hillary Clinton is NOT

practically as conservative as the cluster of right-wing extremists currently running under the GOP label. Unbelievable!

Every one of those regressives wants to dismantle the ACA, tear down the last of our remaining regulations on business, including labor laws, continue lowering taxes even more on the very wealthy and increase corporate welfare, do away with the minimum wage, beef up institutionalized white supremacy, and insist poor people are poor because they don't work....!

Political scientists in general agree that Hillary is a moderate liberal, honest ones anyway. There is a tremendous gap between her and them. I've been testing strong liberal on these things for decades and am to the left of Hillary, probably pretty similar to Martin O'Malley, and right of Bernie. But we're all left-wingers, liberals and progressives.

[Hortensis]

44. InsideGovernment 2016 Candidate Ideology Spectrum

scores our candidates' ""votes, excerpts from speeches, press releases, and so on" to score candidates across a variety of issues, from individual rights to economic policies.

Their summary includes a nice bar graph, which I couldn't copy, so here's the link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/findthebest-/every-2016-candidate-from_b_7562176.html

"...using visualization tools from InsideGov. Here's what we found:

Hillary Clinton winds up a bit more liberal than average for a Democratic candidate, though Bernie Sanders would be the most left-leaning choice among Democrats. The Green Party's Jill Stein would make for the most liberal president of all.

On the conservative side, Chris Christie is clearly the most moderate, while Ted Cruz has the most legitimate claim to the "true conservative" title." Slight understatement...

[muriel_volestrangler]

77. Bear in mind that site's definition of the centre probably isn't yours

Compare where Hillary is to 2012 EU governments - somewhere between the Czech Republic and Sweden:



http://www.politicalcompass.org/euchart

[Hortensis]

78. No, nor is it the rest of AMERICA's.

This is the U.S., and this graph is a bald-faced attempt to paint Hillary as an American conservative.

I do know what you mean, Muriel. I often look at this kind of stuff, and it is fascinating to evaluate where we are compared to other cultures. But this thing was copied into a DU thread to further a sleazy lie, not to enlarge our understanding.

[muriel_volestrangler]

79. Meh - you can look up where they place Obama in 2012 too

You're taking this too seriously. Matters of opinion are not 'sleazy lies'. I know many DUers are on edge because the Iowa caucuses are about to happen, but can't you try to step back from the partisan paranoia for a moment?

[temporary311]

2. Looks about right I guess.

Felt like a couple of questions were worded poorly.

[img][/img]

[Lorien]

3. Yeah, I'm just a little Northwest of you.

n/t

[Recursion]

7. Maybe half a square above and to the right of you (nt)

[ieoeja]

34. Mine. Since it the link is based on the score, not just a temporary graphic, anyone can post it.

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-6.88&soc=-6.46

[femmedem]

36. Howdy neighbor!

I'm just a couple doors down on your left.

[Contrary1]

64. We're pretty close.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[Recursion]

5. Side note: this "map" was designed as a Libertarian recruiting tool

Which is not to say it's useless, just that it frames things in a way that are intended to make people think, "oh, hey, maybe I'm a libertarian!"

For the record,

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-4.38&soc=-5.85

[merrily]

6. I am not sure if it was the same "map," but I did one of these some years ago.

I came out almost imperceptibly left of center.

There was an explanation. Turned out, having a belief in God, as I did then, and considering yourself patriotic gets you shoved rightward, which I think is bull puckie. The right doesn't own God and country. Conversely, many on the right are atheists and could not care less about flag waving.

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Well part of the problem is that "libertarian" means different things.

And there is a fairly big gap between social libertarianism and ayn rand economic libertarianism, and while both are ostensibly advocated by the big-l Libertarian party, in reality they as a political entity fall pretty hard on the right side of the spectrum.

I personally dont believe that it is necessary to privatize fire departments or dismantle the EPA just to oppose those who would censor consenting adult nudity in movies or on the internet, or make it so the government stops throwing people in prison for smoking pot.

The political compass tool is useful becuase it glaringly points out that MOST people (with a few exceptions, mostly on the right but some on the left) do believe that consenting adults should be able to make their own decisions about their own bodies, bloodstreams, and bedrooms. And yet most of our politicians skew authoritarian, not just economically, but socially.

People are finally waking up, which is why support for things like marriage equality and pot legalization are up. Which is why even Rick Santorum has developed amnesia about his prior promises to "crack down on obscenity", etc etc.

[joshcryer]

13. I think it's OK.

I think of all the political (as opposed to anti-political) ideologies, it tries to be fair. It's wrong, of course, objectively so (I could write a thesis on the gold standard), but they try to be honest in their characterizations.

I do dislike Libertarians for dishonesty about policy, but I'm just saying, I think the test is OK.

[FSogol]

23. Exactly. Pure libertarian tripe. n/t

[Lorien]

24. Its from a British source

and I've seen many people get non-libertarian results from it. Republicans I know usually end up in the Authoritarian/ right section, but Libertarians tend to land further right in the libertarian/ right section.

[Honeylies]

48. Libertarianism means something different in this context

Politicalcompass is based in the UK and distinguishes between the more traditional definition of libertarianism and newer version co-opted by Ayn Randian/free market rabid capitalist types we are more familiar with in the US.

Noam explains it well here: https://archive.org/details/NoamChomskyOnTheOriginalMeaningOflibertarian

Also, I believe the test that has been criticized as a means to recruit libertarians is a different test, the Nolan chart: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nolan_Chart

That's not to say Politicalcompass isn't skewed in its own way, I have no way of knowing, so I take it with a grain of salt. Everyone I know ends up in the lower left quadrant, but you know, birds of a feather...

[Warren DeMontague]

9. Last time I took it I was like -8 social - 6 economic, left libertarian quadrant

[hobbit709]

16. That's about where I was.

[handmade34]

10. seems

I'm to the left of Gandhi

[cali]

11. Those things are all bullshit

[ProudToBeLiberal]

14. maybe you just don't like your results. :) nt

[cali]

17. I never engage in such foolishness, my dear.liberal.

I don't need to.

[ProudToBeLiberal]

18. Don't be a party pooper. I want to see how close you are to mine.

I bet we are very similar. Nt

[ProudToBeLiberal]

12. I am a left libertarian.

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -4.5 
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.9

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-4.5&soc=-5.9

[polly7]

15. Economic Left/Right -8.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian -7.79.

Yeesh ...... is this bad?

[ProudToBeLiberal]

19. Seems almost anarchist territory to me. nt

[hobbit709]

20. In my book that is very good.

[Warren DeMontague]

71. No wonder the folks who think the sports illustrated swimsuit issue should be outlawed

Dont like you!

[polly7]

72. And you, too! I saw those scores.

Fun times.

[Kentonio]

21. Economic Left/Right: -7.25 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.15

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-7.25&soc=-6.15

[Lorien]

32. I'm in the same spot. n/t

[Kentonio]

35. Commie hi-5!

[LWolf]

22. I am further left and south

than my candidate.

My candidate is the only one to come close to my green quadrant.

I agree with the analysis at the site, which says, "Style more than substance separates Trump from Hillary Clinton. After all, Trump was a generous donor to Clinton's senate campaigns, and also to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary is nevertheless disingenuously promoting herself as the centrist between an extreme right-winger (Trump) and an 'extreme left-winger' (Sanders). Abortion and gay marriage place her on a more liberal position on the social scale than all of the Republicans but, when it comes to economics, Clinton's unswerving attachment to neoliberalism and big money is a mutual love affair."

[Lorien]

25. Yep, that's pretty much spot on

not much difference between her and Bush, or McCain. Scary to see how far right and Authoritarian the entire GOP field (and DLC "Democrats&quot have moved since 2004. Bernie is the only one close to "centrist" in this race.

[Ed Suspicious]

26. Further left libertarian than Bernie.

[Ed Suspicious]

27. Notice our "extreme leftist" candidate is closest to the center by all accounts. Presidents are

typically, necessarily somewhat centrist. It makes sense that a centrist like Bernie will serve as president. He will represent the interests of most people.

[Lorien]

30. Indeed. This comes from a British source

my friends in the EU keep scoffing at the notion that Bernie is a Socialist or at all an "extreme leftist", which is more of a condemnation of U.S. politics as a whole.

[Hortensis]

43. LOL. Bernie'd be a centrist in Mao's China.

[ram2008]

28. Green leftist

[img]https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-7.63&soc=-3.79[/img]

[Fearless]

29. Same as always...

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-10.0&soc=-9.49

[Lorien]

31. Wow!

I've never seen a result that far in the Southwest corner! You're the ultimate anti-Trump!

[Fearless]

37. If we touch we'd explode.

[DefenseLawyer]

33. I'm also in that Southwest Corner

https://www.politicalcompass.org/yourpoliticalcompass?ec=-8.13&soc=-8.1

[AtomicKitten]

38. me

[AtomicKitten]

83. Here's an accompanying ideology app using the point plotted in the OP's study.

[Todays_Illusion]

39. Is this another one of those tests that says you are libertarian no matter what you reply?

[ucrdem]

40. Yes. If it says "libertarian," it's guess what? Libertarian.

The current online version has been patiently explained here a gazillion times.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World%27s_Smallest_Political_Quiz

[Warren DeMontague]

70. No, if you support putting people in prison for pot smoking like Debbie Wasserman Schultz does

You will come out on the authoritarian side.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

41. Left Libertarian

[Blue_In_AK]

45. Libertarian left

Economic - -7.0
Social libertarian - -6.97


https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-7.0&soc=-6.97

[Kip Humphrey]

62. me too...

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -8.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.77

seemingly fits with my self-assessment of "radical".

[McCamy Taylor]

46. Clinton is in the red area. She is authoritian liberal. Bernie is in the green. Libertarian liberal.

Hillary will go hard on rapists but keep abortion legal. The authoritarian right thinks rape victims were "asking for it" but will keep abortion illegal.

Bernie can't be middle of the road libertarian/authoritarian, because he is too soft of gun control. Scoot him down so that he is parallel to Ron Paul who is in the purple area.


Interesting bit of propo that fails, because most people who can read diagrams and graphs are too smart to fall for this kind of mathematical distortion. And the people who will fall for the distortion do not give a shit about graphic models. They prefer left brain cues such as "Warhawk!" Nice try, though. Good to see someone thinking outside the box. Gets a B minus for effort.

[silverweb]

47. Left Libertarian.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Smack in the middle of that quadrant.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

49. https://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2?ec=-5.5&soc=-6.46

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-5.5&soc=-6.46

[SusanCalvin]

51. Hey, pretty much me!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. The difference between -6s and -10s is agreeing instead of strongly agreeing with the questions./nt

[SusanCalvin]

57. I'm sure a lot of analysis could be done.

I regard it as rough estimate amusement.

[SusanCalvin]

50. I'm four left and seven down

From what they say is Bernie's position.

[TheFarS1de]

53. That was an eye opener

Your Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.64

Not sure if it's good or bad but at least my closest was Ghandi and not Stalin . Still green .

[JonLeibowitz]

54. Thanks for the thread! For the record

About where I expected to be.

Clinton's position on the map is unsurprising but yet disappointing.

[TDale313]

55. Left Libertarian.

Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.95

[Live and Learn]

56. Ha, Bernie is far too establishment for me, LOL

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -9.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.31

[VulgarPoet]

59. Because they still don't believe she shares half her views with the neocons

despite her flagrant voting record.

[Warren DeMontague]

67. I suspect for some of them, it's because they're gleefully authoritarian.

Unfortunately there are people - supposedly on "the left"- who deeply hate the 1st Amendment and have no problem with things like SWAT teams arresting sick grannies for using medical marijuana.

[VulgarPoet]

60. Waaaaaaay left libertarian...

https://www.politicalcompass.org/chart?ec=-5.5&soc=-6.31

[3catwoman3]

61. Middle of the green...

...for me.

[MuseRider]

63. I have not moved much in the last few years

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.82

[Kalidurga]

65. From about 6 months ago I was here in the chart the green dot in the far left

If I could implement the policies I would like, RWers would need a diaper change.

[area51]

66. Unsurprising to me that Clinton wouldn't be in the green area.

Economic Left/Right: -5.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.95

[applegrove]

68. Libertarian left. Like Ghandi.

[ucrdem]

69. psst, don't tell your parents but

here's a lollipop for taking the quiz!

[mvd]

73. About the same as last time

Last edited Sun Jan 31, 2016, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Your Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -7.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.18

Sanders definitely closest, but always suspected I am even more to the left. My views align most with a candidate like Jill Stein, but it is Bernie who is running and has a chance in our party. Plus Bernie is great.

[mvd]

74. Giving one bump for this fun exercise

[MineralMan]

75. Wherever I want to be.

If I wanted to, I could answer all of the questions to put myself in any quadrant on that chart. So could anyone with any sense.

What's funny is when people attempt to answer the questions they way they think someone else would answer. It's simple to move the dot anywhere you wish by answering in a way that positions the person on the chart.

That's why this whole thing is ridiculous, especially when it pretends to show where a candidate will appear on the chart.

Completely bogus.

[Warren DeMontague]

80. Yes, if people lie when answering questions on a survey they may get a different result.

but that really has nothing to do with anything. Are you suggesting that those of us who ended up in the lower left quadrant lied when we answered that we feel abortion or marijuana should be legal?

[MineralMan]

81. Anytime people answer for others,

It is completely bogus. Nobody can answer for anyone but him or herself. If I answer honestly for myself, I end up in the lower left quadrant. That does not mean that I could not generate any result I chose. NOBODY CAN ANSWER FOR ANYONE ELSE. Period.

[Warren DeMontague]

82. I certainly do not have trouble believing that certain members of our party's leadership take

authoritarian positions on a whole host of issues.

Hillary has called for a "Manhattan Project" to make sure no one can encrypt their iphones. Debbie Wasserman Schultz has voted repeatedly to send sick people to prison for using medical marijuana.

What is stunning is the disconnect between these views and where most of the rank and file party voters are.

[tularetom]

76. Economic Left/Right: -3.95 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.63

But it might be a lot different if they included an option to the multiple choices for "I don't give a shit".