Let’s create a new and improved Political Compass test!

[an anarchist]

The most popular political compass test isn’t that good in my opinion (The Political Compass)

I thought to myself that I can create a better one, and I think I want to try.

I am making this initial thread so I can get feedback and information from everyone who is interested. I am asking for guidance and input.

Please feel free to list questions that you feel like would be appropriate in a political compass test.

The compass I am devising is two parallel lines as opposed to two perpendicular lines like the traditional test.

The first line will represent the spectrum between “Statism” and “Anarchism”. The second line will cover the spectrum between “Individualistic control of the economy” and “communal control of the economy”. I will draw it out and post it in a reply. Please feel free to offer your own suggestions on layout!

I barely started devising this today, so I really don’t know how best to approach this.

Ultimately, I can feed someone’s answers to an AI (ChatGPT) and the AI will be able to calculate where on the compass the individual is. I just have to coach the AI and devise a proper system.

So please help me!

 

[an anarchist]

Tagging people who have posted relatively recently in the other political compass threads as well as people I know who have an interest in politics/economics.

@Rival @Clizby Wampuscat @libre @Saint Frankenstein @ratiocinator @Regiomontanus @beenherebeforeagain @Revoltingest @Stevicus @Secret Chief @Heyo @Koldo @PureX @Estro Felino

 

[an anarchist]

Q: Do you support Free Markets:
a: completely unregulated free markets
b: free to a relative degree but with government regulation
c: strict government regulation and control over the markets
Q: Do you support “government” as a concept?
a: yes
b: no
Q: What is your stance on immigration?
a: open borders
b: limited and regulated immigration
c: closed borders

This is where my mind is going with the questions. Ask direct but broad questions.

I think if I ultimately create a dual parallel line system for the compass layout, the test would have to give a score for each line.

 

[Stevicus]

Q: Do you support Free Markets:
a: completely unregulated free markets
b: free to a relative degree but with government regulation
c: strict government regulation and control over the markets
Q: Do you support “government” as a concept?
a: yes
b: no
Q: What is your stance on immigration?
a: open borders
b: limited and regulated immigration
c: closed borders

This is where my mind is going with the questions. Ask direct but broad questions.

I think if I ultimately create a dual parallel line system for the compass layout, the test would have to give a score for each line.

One thing that comes to mind when considering tests like this is that there are different aspects which might be "right" or "left." Someone might be left-wing on economic issues, but right-wing on social issues (or vice versa). Then there's foreign policy, as there might be a spectrum between a zealous nationalist (right) and a one-world internationalist (left), which would also cover border and immigration issues. Along the same lines, there might be a spectrum between hot-headed militarism and cool-headed diplomacy.

 

[an anarchist]

One thing that comes to mind when considering tests like this is that there are different aspects which might be "right" or "left."

I think that’s why more than one test result is necessary, which the parallel lines would allow for. I can possibly add more lines to determine where an individual is on a generalized topic. The tricky part would be developing an aggregate score. I wonder if that would be possible to be accurate with.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Q: Do you support Free Markets:
a: completely unregulated free markets
b: free to a relative degree but with government regulation
c: strict government regulation and control over the markets

With questions such as this, for me, there is no succinct answer...are we talking local, regional, state, or larger units? In the market, is there a chance of real competition? Are we talking small businesses or international conglomerates? Is there opportunity for oligarchic or monopolistic domination? Are all significant costs being internalized by the competing entities?

And so on.

 

[anotherneil]

Q: Do you support Free Markets:
a: completely unregulated free markets
b: free to a relative degree but with government regulation
c: strict government regulation and control over the markets
Q: Do you support “government” as a concept?
a: yes
b: no
Q: What is your stance on immigration?
a: open borders
b: limited and regulated immigration
c: closed borders

This is where my mind is going with the questions. Ask direct but broad questions.

I think if I ultimately create a dual parallel line system for the compass layout, the test would have to give a score for each line.

One problem I have with such tests is their ambiguity; in order to fix this, they need to explain or define what they mean when using certain words, concepts, expressions, etc.

In this case, with all of these examples you provide, there's another problem, and the solution is to conditionally present dependent questions.

For example, your second questions ought to be posed first, then the other 2 questions are conditionally posed depending on its answer.

If the question "Do you support government as a concept?" is answered with a "yes", then the other 2 questions can be posed & if it's answered with a "no", then it moves on to other questions.

Otherwise, it's nonsensical. Without government, there is no such thing as a free market (since there's no such thing as a market, in general) or borders.

If someone answers "no" to supporting government as a concept, but answered "strict government regulation and control over the markets", then all you have is garbage answers, and is a good example of where the computer data expression "garbage in, garbage out" applies.

Same with answering "no" to supporting government as a concept and answering limited and regulated immigration to the immigration stance question - this also makes no sense.

 

[an anarchist]

One problem I have with such tests is their ambiguity; in order to fix this, they need to explain or define what they mean when using certain words, concepts, expressions, etc.

In this case, with all of these examples you provide, there's another problem, and the solution is to conditionally present dependent questions.

For example, your second questions ought to be posed first, then the other 2 questions are conditionally posed depending on its answer.

If the question "Do you support government as a concept?" is answered with a "yes", then the other 2 questions can be posed & if it's answered with a "no", then it moves on to other questions.

Otherwise, it's nonsensical. Without government, there is no such thing as a free market (since there's no such thing as a market, in general) or borders.

If someone answers "no" to supporting government as a concept, but answered "strict government regulation and control over the markets", then all you have is garbage answers, and is a good example of where the computer data expression "garbage in, garbage out" applies.

Same with answering "no" to supporting government as a concept and answering limited and regulated immigration to the immigration stance question - this also makes no sense.

I will have to create probing questions to start the test, and then transition to a specifically tailored test once the general political philosophy of the test doer has been established.

 

[Revoltingest]

Q: Do you support Free Markets:
a: completely unregulated free markets
b: free to a relative degree but with government regulation
c: strict government regulation and control over the markets
Q: Do you support “government” as a concept?
a: yes
b: no
Q: What is your stance on immigration?
a: open borders
b: limited and regulated immigration
c: closed borders

This is where my mind is going with the questions. Ask direct but broad questions.

I think if I ultimately create a dual parallel line system for the compass layout, the test would have to give a score for each line.

Free markets
Limited government
Regulated immigration

 

[Secret Chief]

The most popular political compass test isn’t that good in my opinion (The Political Compass)

I thought to myself that I can create a better one, and I think I want to try.

I am making this initial thread so I can get feedback and information from everyone who is interested. I am asking for guidance and input.

Please feel free to list questions that you feel like would be appropriate in a political compass test.

The compass I am devising is two parallel lines as opposed to two perpendicular lines like the traditional test.

The first line will represent the spectrum between “Statism” and “Anarchism”. The second line will cover the spectrum between “Individualistic control of the economy” and “communal control of the economy”. I will draw it out and post it in a reply. Please feel free to offer your own suggestions on layout!

I barely started devising this today, so I really don’t know how best to approach this.

Ultimately, I can feed someone’s answers to an AI (ChatGPT) and the AI will be able to calculate where on the compass the individual is. I just have to coach the AI and devise a proper system.

So please help me!

I'm not sure how much the questions are the problem, rather than what is done with the answers. This is based on my own experience of it. How does it manage to get "me" so wrong? It comes up with me being seriously libertarian. Yet if I were president of the world, libertarians would be the first up against the wall.

 

[Regiomontanus]

The most popular political compass test isn’t that good in my opinion (The Political Compass)

I thought to myself that I can create a better one, and I think I want to try.

I am making this initial thread so I can get feedback and information from everyone who is interested. I am asking for guidance and input.

Please feel free to list questions that you feel like would be appropriate in a political compass test.

The compass I am devising is two parallel lines as opposed to two perpendicular lines like the traditional test.

The first line will represent the spectrum between “Statism” and “Anarchism”. The second line will cover the spectrum between “Individualistic control of the economy” and “communal control of the economy”. I will draw it out and post it in a reply. Please feel free to offer your own suggestions on layout!

I barely started devising this today, so I really don’t know how best to approach this.

Ultimately, I can feed someone’s answers to an AI (ChatGPT) and the AI will be able to calculate where on the compass the individual is. I just have to coach the AI and devise a proper system.

So please help me!

Great idea. That test is crap and I think it would be fun to come up with a better one. I want to print out the questions and look at them more closely before contributing anyrhing.

 

[an anarchist]

Yet if I were president of the world, libertarians would be the first up against the wall.

*sweats nervously*

 

[Secret Chief]

*sweats nervously*

Damn autotext. I meant librarians.

 

[Quintessence]

Recommendation - work with a political scientist at a university. You know, experts who know the field and what's what.

 

[an anarchist]

Recommendation - work with a political scientist at a university. You know, experts who know the field and what's what.

If that other test is all they can come up with… nah

 

[Quintessence]

If that other test is all they can come up with… nah

It wouldn't be. I don't doubt there are dozens upon dozens of metrics the discipline uses to make assessments, as it is with any other field of study. I'm not a political scientist and I'm not interested in looking into it, but it sounded like you were. This could be a legitimate, properly scholarly academic project - a master's thesis at least. Why not go for it?

 

[libre]

I don't think the political compass is particularly useful, and don't really see the point in trying to produce a better one.

Typologies of authoritarianism produced by political scientists and historians may be useful for conceptualizing commonalities between different states and legal forms, but I don't think they are useful for identifying allegiance or expressing one's personal politics.

It appears to me that the political compass presumes that politics has two-dimensions, I just don't think I've ever seen good evidence to support this.