Some of the questions are slanted
Most of them are slanted ! Some right-wingers accuse us of a leftward slant. Some left-wingers accuse us of a rightward slant. But it's important to realise that this isn't a survey, and
these aren't questions. They're propositions - an altogether different proposition. To question the logic of individual ones that irritate you is to miss the point. Some propositions are extreme, and some are more moderate. That's how we can show you whether you lean towards extremism or moderation on the Compass.
Some of the propositions are intentionally vague. Their purpose is to trigger buzzwords in the mind of the user, measuring feelings and prejudices rather than detailed opinions on policy.
Incidentally, our test is not another internet personality classification tool. The essence of our site is the model for political analysis. The test is simply a demonstration of it.
My position on The Political Compass is at odds with the politicians I support
Politicians often speak in codes that disguise actual policy, with the aim of appealing to as broad a spectrum of the public as possible.
While the individual may identify with particular figures, if their positions and the consequences of those positions are acted upon, they may disagree.
The propositions in the test give the respondent an all-too-rare chance to consider many situations. Their reactions are sometimes quite different from the positions of their favourite politicians.
For example, a conservative person may be straightforwardly opposed to universal health care, but disagree with a proposition suggesting that the quality of a child's health care should be governed by the health of the parents' finances.
You should have a "don't know" option
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.
There have to be other measures for a political compass
Great. Tell us about them so that we can consider adding them. But surely our two axis arrangement is a vast improvement on the single one that you've put up with for more than 2 centuries.
You've got liberals on the right. Don't you know they're left ?
This response is exclusively American. Elsewhere neo-liberalism is understood in standard political science terminology - deriving from mid 19th Century Manchester Liberalism, which campaigned for free trade on behalf of the capitalist classes of manufacturers and industrialists. In other words, laissez-faire or economic libertarianism.
In the United States, "liberals" are understood to believe in leftish economic programmes such as welfare and publicly funded medical care, while also holding liberal social views on matters such as law and order, peace, sexuality, women's rights etc. The two don't necessarily go together.
Our Compass rightly separates them. Otherwise, how would you label someone like the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan who, on the one hand, pleased the left by supporting strong economic safety nets for the underprivileged, but angered social liberals with his support for the Vietnam War, the Cold War and other key conservative causes ?
FAQ ... The Political Compass
