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Political Compass

 
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A political compass or political diamond is a multi-axis model
Political spectrum

A political spectrum is a way of modeling different politics positions by placing them upon one or more geometry coordinate axis symbolizing independent political dimensions....
 used to label or organize political thought on several dimensions. There are several competing political compasses, with varying number of axes.

Overview
A similar illustration appeared in Floodgates of Anarchy; however, the term "Political Compass" is under copyright by a website which uses responses to a set of propositions to rate political views on two axes: Economic (Left-Right) and Social (Authoritarian-Libertarian).






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A political compass or political diamond is a multi-axis model
Political spectrum

A political spectrum is a way of modeling different politics positions by placing them upon one or more geometry coordinate axis symbolizing independent political dimensions....
 used to label or organize political thought on several dimensions. There are several competing political compasses, with varying number of axes.

Overview


A similar illustration appeared in Floodgates of Anarchy; however, the term "Political Compass" is under copyright by a website which uses responses to a set of propositions to rate political views on two axes: Economic (Left-Right) and Social (Authoritarian-Libertarian). The site also includes an explanation of the two-axis system they use, a few charts which place various past and present political figures according to their estimation, and reading lists for each of the main political orientations.

The underlying principle of the Political Compass is that political views may be better measured along two separate and independent axes. The Economic (Left-Right) axis measures one's opinion of how the economy should be run: "left" is defined as the view that the economy should be run by a cooperative collective agency (which can mean the state
State

A state is a political Social contract with effective sovereignty over a geographic area and representing a population. These may be nation states, State or multinational states....
, but can also mean a network of commune
Commune (intentional community)

A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, employment and income....
s), while "right" is defined as the view that the economy should be left to the devices of competing individuals and organisations. The other axis (Authoritarian-Libertarian) measures one's political opinions in a social sense, regarding a view of the appropriate amount of personal freedom: "libertarianism
Libertarianism (disambiguation)

Libertarianism, from "libertarian" , may refer to:...
" is defined as the belief that personal freedom should be maximised, while "authoritarianism
Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism describes a form of government characterized by an emphasis on the authority of the state in a republic or union. It is a political system controlled by nonelected rulers who usually permit some degree of individual freedom....
" is defined as the belief that authority and tradition should be obeyed.

The labels given to the different fields and axes on the compass are based on long-standing European and Commonwealth terminology. Some of those labels are used differently in the politics of the United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
, which may confuse some American visitors to the website, although most of these terms are explained as they are used.

See also

  • Political spectrum
    Political spectrum

    A political spectrum is a way of modeling different politics positions by placing them upon one or more geometry coordinate axis symbolizing independent political dimensions....
    : discusses the dimensionality concept at length.
  • Nolan Chart
    Nolan Chart

    The Nolan Chart is a politics diagram popularized by the United States libertarianism David Nolan . He created it to illustrate the claim that libertarianism stands for both economic freedom and personal freedom , in graphic contrast to left-wing politics "liberalism," which, according to Nolan, advocates only "personal freedom", and right...
  • Pournelle chart
    Pournelle chart

    The Pournelle chart, developed by Jerry Pournelle , is a 2-dimensional coordinate system used to distinguish political ideologies. It is similar to the Political compass and the Nolan Chart in that it is a two-dimensional chart, but the axes chosen in the Pournelle chart are different from those in other systems....
  • Horseshoe theory
    Horseshoe theory

    The Horseshoe theory in political science asserts that rather than the far left and the far right being at opposite and opposing ends of a linear political Continuum , they in fact closely resemble one another, much like the ends of a horseshoe....


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