Political Compass

The x-axis ranges from "left" to "right" and the y-axis ranges from "libertarian" to "authoritarian."

The Political Compass is an idealist political model designed to be an improvement and successor to the Left-Right Spectrum, while in reality it is simply a means of incorporating anti-communist propaganda into the somewhat neutral political spectrum model. It claims to improve on the Left-Right Spectrum 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. Due to the added individualism of the model, it is particularly popular among liberals.

Description

The model introduces a y-axis where one end of the scale is labeled "Authoritarian" and the other "Libertarian". 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). The actual body of these Ideological groupings is entirely subjective as it's based on pseudo-science.

History

The Political Compass Website (and the Model supposedly) was created in 2001 to be a successor to the Left-Right Political Spectrum.

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. 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 a simple tool for liberals to visualise ideology without actually learning any political theory, similar to political compass balls, an offshoot of the political compass wherein each ideology is given a distinct personality. 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.

The website itself treats "economic left vs right" as a matter of "regulation vs deregulation," hence why it treats far-right politicians with Bonapartist policies (such as Marine Le Pen) as economic "centrists."