Political Compass Results

[Scott C.]

Hey everyone.

Whilst the Political Compass Test is far from perfect, it is probably the most "accurate" way to measure where people are politically that we have. I took the test recently, and got these results and am shamefully moderate.

Spoiler: Crowd Chart for 2006-2013 Results

Not sure what I'm supposed to do with this:

 

[Revoltingest]

Not sure what I'm supposed to do with this:

You could lament the fact that you're stuck in the purple quadrant with me.
Is there anyone else from this thread in there with us?
Even you have one foot almost in the blue....so I'm keeping my eye on you.

 

[Laika]

I've updated the crowd chart in the OP. @Revoltingest really is out there.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I've updated the crowd chart in the OP. @Revoltingest really is out there.

I think it was that one drunken night when he brought haggis for everyone, lifted his kilt, and still had the smell of the RF toilet on his hand.

 

[PackJason]

I can't find that anywhere, but I did find this fun (of questionable acceptability) diagram.
(There are other diagrams, but this was the best of the bunch.)

I'm over in the deep south end of "Libertarianism".

Apparently I'm a right-leaning Anarchist ... Hmmm ...

 

[Sees]

I can't find that anywhere, but I did find this fun (of questionable acceptability) diagram.
(There are other diagrams, but this was the best of the bunch.)

I'm over in the deep south end of "Libertarianism".

I can't imagine even scoring that far right without being a hard core Bible-thumping CEO...how do you pull it off? Libertarianism being that far over also seems exaggerated to me, majorly...

 

[Revoltingest]

I can't imagine even scoring that far right without being a hard core Bible-thumping CEO...how do you pull it off? Libertarianism being that far over also seems exaggerated to me, majorly...

Being a fan of economic liberty has nothing to do with religion.
Most atheists I know IRL are fire breathing capitalists.
Consider....if we don't want religion telling us what to do,
why would I want government controlling me?
And many believers I know are big government liberals.

Religion.....
I never had one. I was a non-believer since before I was born.
I never wavered. I always thought religion was incredible, ie,
to believe in all these unverifiable things solely because someone
once said those things, & they wound up in a book
I started disliking governmental control in elementary school, when
we have teacher led prayer in public school.

 

[PackJason]

Being a fan of economic liberty has nothing to do with religion.
Most atheists I know IRL are fire breathing capitalists.
And many believers I know are big government liberals.

Weird. Most atheists I know are liberals.

 

[Revoltingest]

Weird. Most atheists I know are liberals.

I'm a "classical liberal" (somewhat different from the RF definition), ie favoring small government & personal liberty, both social & economic.
That's pretty much what a N Americastanian "libertarian" is, which is why that's our party name.

RF isn't very politically diverse, when we look at the members' dots on the chart.

 

[Sees]

Being a fan of economic liberty has nothing to do with religion.
Most atheists I know IRL are fire breathing capitalists.
Consider....if we don't want religion telling us what to do,
why would I want government controlling me?
And many believers I know are big government liberals.

I understand being that far down just not that far right....I've identified as Libertarian for a long time. I'll have to play with the quiz some more.

 

[PackJason]

I'm a "classical liberal" (somewhat different from the RF definition), ie favoring small government & personal liberty, both social & economic.
That's pretty much what a N Americastanian "libertarian" is, which is why that's our party name.

RF isn't very politically diverse, when we look at the members' dots on the chart.

I've considered myself a left-leaning classical liberal for most of my life. I identified as a Libertarian for a while, but I kept getting bashed for it because I wasn't "Laissez-faire" enough for the right-leaning Libertarians and I got tired of trying to explain to them that Libertarianism is about more than just free markets.

Now I just call myself an anti-authoritarian independent.

 

[Revoltingest]

I understand being that far down just not that far right....I've identified as Libertarian for a long time. I'll have to play with the quiz some more.

We Libertarians don't call ourselves "right".
That smacks of authoritarianism.
Real libertarians are about liberty....economic, political, & social.
A "left libertarian" is virtually indistinguishable from a "liberal" (modern N Am usage).

 

[Revoltingest]

I've considered myself a left-leaning classical liberal for most of my life. I identified as a Libertarian for a while, but I kept getting bashed for it because I wasn't "Laissez-faire" enough for the right-leaning Libertarians and I got tired of trying to explain to them that Libertarianism is about more than just free markets.

When you use the capital "L" in "Libertarian", we read this as the proper name for the party, ie, Libertarian Party.
(It's analogous to the difference between "democrat" & "Democrat".)
We are Laissez-faire types, in both the Americastanian & Canuckistanian parties.
So it makes sense that you'd meet some resistance for left leaning economics.

Now I just call myself an anti-authoritarian independent.

This is a good label because people won't know what it means, so they'll ask questions.

I often identify as a "liberal" because of its classical sense, & also in the dictionary sense that I'm permissive in just about all political areas. Alas, RF has deemed that I'm not one, so I can't post in that restricted forum (even when agreeing on social liberal issues). But it's odd that the RF definition of "libertarian" is so broad that it's fully 50% of the political spectrum, & includes the majority of posters (who took the test). It's so broad as to lose much meaning.

I'll show again a diagram which embodies the Libertarian perspective....

The Political Spectrum Diagram in the OP is Euro-centric,
so that appears to be the source of the terminology difference.
I'm a Yankee, not a Froggie or Kaut, so I prefer N Am usages.

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Nice thread!
I've used political compass and the world's smallest test in classes for years.

The distribution we're seeing on the group chart in the OP is very typical of what I see with my students--a distribution that would generally fit a line from the bottom left to upper right corners, with very few more than 3 points off that line, and more in the lower left quadrant than the upper right...in fact, most (~70 percent) in my classes score plus or minus four from the center of the graph. I've had a handful out of several hundred who have scored close the other corners, like @Revoltingest

If one digs in more to the data about political candidates (presidential primaries, general elections, senators) our elected officials and candidates in the US are almost entirely in the upper right quadrant--Dems tend to be a little to the left and/or bottom of that sector, while Reps tend to be a little to the right and above the center of the quadrant. The differences between the two major parties in America is generally much smaller than between the major parties in other democracies--people from other nations often wonder what we're arguing about--from the outside, the differences seem so small.

I've taken the test several times, trying to vary my responses (because I have very divergent views on economics as it applies to individual enterprise vs. small businesses vs. large businesses; and also local government vs. state and national government), but I still tend to score in the lower left quadrant. I'll have to see if I can find some of my old scores to share.

 

[Revoltingest]

Nice thread!
I've used political compass and the world's smallest test in classes for years.

The distribution we're seeing on the group chart in the OP is very typical of what I see with my students--a distribution that would generally fit a line from the bottom left to upper right corners, with very few more than 3 points off that line, and more in the lower left quadrant than the upper right...in fact, most (~70 percent) in my classes score plus or minus four from the center of the graph. I've had a handful out of several hundred who have scored close the other corners, like @Revoltingest

If one digs in more to the data about political candidates (presidential primaries, general elections, senators) our elected officials and candidates in the US are almost entirely in the upper right quadrant--Dems tend to be a little to the left and/or bottom of that sector, while Reps tend to be a little to the right and above the center of the quadrant. The differences between the two major parties in America is generally much smaller than between the major parties in other democracies--people from other nations often wonder what we're arguing about--from the outside, the differences seem so small.

I've taken the test several times, trying to vary my responses (because I have very divergent views on economics as it applies to individual enterprise vs. small businesses vs. large businesses; and also local government vs. state and national government), but I still tend to score in the lower left quadrant. I'll have to see if I can find some of my old scores to share.

This illustrates why so many posters cry "False equivalency!" when I note the similarity of the Pubs & Dems.
To those dwelling in that close bunch of dots near the graph's origin, the differences look large.
But from my distant corner, they're all birds of a feather, eg, pro-big gov, pro-war.

 

[PackJason]

I end up on the left-hand side of the libertarian section, on the edge, three squares down.

 

[Revoltingest]

I end up on the left-hand side of the libertarian section, on the edge, three squares down.

A fellow extremist, eh.....

 

[Sand Dancer]

Your Political Compass
Economic Left/Right: -7.0
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.41

 

[Baladas]

 

[icehorse]

No surprise here:

Economic: -6.88
Libertarian: -5.23

(How the heck would I add an image?)