The Political Compass is a political model designed to be an improvement and successor to the Left-Right Spectrum. It improves on this by introducing a y-axis, where one end of the scale is labelled 'Authoritarian' and the other 'Libertarian'. It then puts a point, where supposedly you can decide what political ideology you have. Despite the flaws of the model, it is still a popular model used by people who enjoy politics and often used in political memes.
Description
The model introduces a y-axis where one end of the scale, you get Authoritarian, the other is Liberation. The y-axis is typically placed at the middle of the x-axis, and thus forms four quadrants. Those are: Authoritarian Left, Authoritarian Right, Libertarian Right and Libertarian Left (often abbreviated as Authleft, Authright, Libright, and Libleft, respectively). Note that authoritarian is not denoted the same as 'authoritarianism' in liberal terms.
Authoritarian Left
These are people who want to retain the state, and allow 'leftist' policies as well. This group typically fits Marxist-Leninists and any other supposed 'Authoritarian Left' ideology, such as 'Orthodox Marxism' and 'Democratic Socialism'.
Authoritarian Right
These are people who want to retain the state but accept more 'rightist' policies. This group fits Liberals, Conservatives and Fascists (although the exact position of Fascism is debatable amongst Liberals).
Libertarian Right
These are people who want to remove the state but keep the rightist policies such as retaining Capitalism. This typically describes Libertarians and 'Anarcho-Capitalists'.
Libertarian Left
These are people who want to remove the state and accept left-wing policies. This group typically fits Anarchists and 'Libertarian Socialists'.
History
The Political Compass Website (and the Model supposedly) was created in 2001 to be a successor to the Left-Right Political Spectrum.[1]
Political Compass Website
The Political Compass Website was made in order to give awareness but also to note that it is supposed to be a 'universal' test designed to apply to all political ideologies.[2] There is also a test available for those who want to try out the political compass and see where they land within the model. The Political Compass Website has been given criticism for the test, as it has a bias towards the 'Libertarian Left' spectrum.
The Appeal to the Political Compass
The Political Compass has received popularity despite the criticism given about the test, as it is better to demonstrate the political compass than the typical 'Left-Right Spectrum'. Therefore there are communities which surround the Political Compass, such as the subreddit r/PoliticalCompassMemes or the website 'Polcompball' (Political Compass Ball).
Criticism
The model itself has received criticism as the terms 'Libertarian' and 'Authoritarian' are also abstract and unscientific. It also inherits the same flaws it had with the 'Left-Right Spectrum', not attempting to change them in any fundamental way, so the model is inherently unscientific.