since we seem to enjoy slapping labels on each other so often in this forum, I thought it'd be helpful to find some sort of external resource by which we might actually be able to quantitatively assess where exactly we really do fit into the political spectrum. this has been attempted in this forum before; however, navigating through older posts to try and unearth previous discussions is basically strolling through a shitstorm museum, so I'll attempt to start fresh here. I found three separate quizzes on three separate sites that each use a two-axis (at least) model rather than the simple single-axis "left/right" bullshit that's always irritated me. all three quizzes seem to date from the last presidential election and could probably use an overhaul in the areas of economic intervention and gay rights, but thus far they're the least awful political alignment quizzes I've been able to find.
1.)
the political compass: looks like its last major overhaul was for the 2008 general elections, but to their credit the developers of this site claim they're trying to stick to a bigger picture - and a more international focus - despite election-to-election shifts of platforms and ideologies within the US. as such, they might come across to posters here as a little left of center (they seemed to strike me that way), but it's a nice conversation starter to see where you fall on a more global map of political opinion. visually it seems the least confusing of the three as well, which is nice.
my results:
2.)
politopia: created by the institute for humane studies at george mason, this particular quiz seems to concentrate a
little more on civil liberties and the social axis than on economic matters, which isn't too surprising given the source. all the same, it's a nice change of pace from other political alignment measurement systems, at least visually. (social intervention increases with
x, economic intervention increases with
y - almost the mirror image of the previous site!) as with the other two, david nolan's work forms the basis of the axes of alignment, but each 'region' (nine, rather than the four quadrants as above) receives even-handed treatment in its description and list of 'residents'.
my results:
3.)
world's smallest political quiz: created by advocates for self-government, this quiz has a decidedly more libertarian bent to it but still manages to treat each sector of its political spectrum objectively. this time around there are
five regions, basically adding a 'centrist' catch-all to the four quadrants of the first political spectrum chart. the quiz itself has been updated since 1995 and didn't seem
too unrealistic, though in order to accomplish this it felt like the questions had to be made a little more vague.
my results:
all of which tells me I am slightly to the right of center and somewhere between libertarian and conservative, which doesn't really surprise me all that much. anyway, you guys should take at least one of these - you might be surprised how close together a lot of you really are.
