NationStates Jolt Archive

Just thought it would be interesting. Anyway, the real point of this thread is to complain about how inferior the political compass is. As an Anarchist, some of the questions are just to simplistic for me to answer. Like, for example, the statement "The freer the market, the freer the people." I would generally strongly agree with that statement but mainly because of the way I use the term "Free Market." I certainly wouldn't refer to a nation with a capitalist infrastructure enforced by the law of the government as having a free market, but the test would probably take it in that way. There are lots of other complaints as well. What do you think about the political compass.
BTW my angular score is 4.691945882 Radians (that's 268.8286967 Degrees) and 6.361328478 Units.

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?

Also, please don't make this into a debate about politics especially if you are going to flame etc.

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?
Where did you find that test?

I must agree, the political compass test is horrible. The questions deal in generalizations. The situations put forth are often case specific and they didn't take into account of how people define certain terms.

Where did you find that test?
I think someone mentioned it on here months ago. I liked it and when I get reminded, I post it to make myself feel important... :D

I dont think the political compass is utterly useless, but it is certainly not an accurate measure of anything. Ive pointed out the numerous problems with it in the past. Overall, its ok. The problem is when people interpret it as being a very accurate measure of political beliefs rather than a just for fun test (as happens so often on this forum).

The questions are not just too simplistic, they are misleading. Many of the questions could have been re-worded to have completely different outcomes. Like An archy, I also believed that my views were not accurately measured because of the way the test interpreted the answers. I tried the test Leonstein posted, and enjoyed it much more than any other political test that I've taken, even though it still gave me some goofy results.

I have no clue what posses me to start threads at 8:50 in the evening. The thing is, that I don't have a computer of my own, so I use my college's library which closes at 9:00. That means I can't respond immediately to most of the first few posts in the thread. Such is life.

Anyway, I think I've figured out exactly what annoys me with the political compass. Obviously, you can only be so accurate when trying to define a person's political views with only two numbers. That isn't the real problem. I will demonstrate the main problem with an example.

Imagine Adolf Hitler taking the political compass test. He sees the statement, "All people have their rights, but it is better for all of us that different sorts of people should keep to their own kind." He thinks to himself, "That first part about all people having rights is just ridiculous." And so, he marks strongly disagree. This, in fact, gives him a more libertarian social score despite the fact that that is one of his most socially authoritarian opinions.

How do you think it would be best to solve that problem?

How do you think it would be best to solve that problem?

Pictures flash up on the screen. A left mouse click means "good", "approve" or "I don't have a problem with that", a right mouse click means "bad" or "hell no". Think of the possibilities:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fr/f/f2/Che.jpeg

http://www.thisisthelife.com/photos/experiences/large/gay-pride-sydney.jpg

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/images/President.George.W.Bush.jpg

http://www.drbongs.com/product_descriptions/bongs/images/glass_bong_bong-42_big.jpg

http://www.sathayer.net/images/nra-lg.gif

Can't get much more straightforward than that.

Pictures flash up on the screen. A left mouse click means "good", "approve" or "I don't have a problem with that", a right mouse click means "bad" or "hell no". Think of the possibilities:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fr/f/f2/Che.jpeg

http://www.thisisthelife.com/photos/experiences/large/gay-pride-sydney.jpg

http://www.ruggedelegantliving.com/a/images/President.George.W.Bush.jpg

http://www.drbongs.com/product_descriptions/bongs/images/glass_bong_bong-42_big.jpg

http://www.sathayer.net/images/nra-lg.gif

Can't get much more straightforward than that.
Interesting to say the least. I'm thinking the test could ask some basic questions and provide a multiple choice to each question. Each choice would generally reflect what a person of a particular ideology might say. That way you could have dimension to the questions themselves, which is what I think the political compass is missing.

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?

"Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you a socially-orientated, materialist, internationalist, controlled-market kind of person, who also seems quite Marxist.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of Marxist. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Communism area."

Quite accurate.

"Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you a socially-orientated, materialist, internationalist, controlled-market kind of person, who also seems quite Marxist.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of Marxist. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Communism area."

Quite accurate.


Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you an individually-orientated, materialist, small-government, nationalist, non-absolutist, kind of person.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of borderline nationalist. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Nationalism area

i am mostly a pragmatic centrist,however i guess it is somewhat accurate...oddly it is, i suppose close to my compass scores:
economic l/r 0.25
social l/a -1.33

i am not sure what it means that i am borderline nationalist...i guess that leaves a bad taste in my mouth,however i am probably thinking historically like the nationalist movements of day's gone by.
i am proud of my country most time,but i do not blindly march lockstep...and i certainly do not think my country is better then any other(except maybe france..lol)just kidding,just different in certain cultural ways.

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?

RESULTS:
Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you an individually-orientated, small-government, nationalist, non-absolutist, liberal-market kind of person.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of borderline nationalist. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Nationalism area.

Below, on this page, is an analysis of the (up to) eight categories that you were sorted into above, and an explanation of how you scored on the eight scales used to determine these categorisations.

The pages following this one show the breakdown of results for all participants on each question. You can freely navigate through the pages by using the hyperlinks in the top right of each page.



Individual vs Social

"The individualist believes that society works best through a focus on individual rights, freedoms, actions and responsibilities. The social thinker believes that the ideal state should focus more upon collective action and take a social approach to rights and responsibilities."

You scored 36 out of 100 on a scale of Individual vs Social. This means that politically you are less likely to value the need for group actions and group benefit over individual enterprise and benefit.

* 14% of test takers were more individual than you.
* 85% of test takers were more social than you.

Theist vs Materialist

"The materialist believes that all objective criteria to influence politics can be reasonably derived without recourse to the divine or the spiritual. The theist believes that spiritual beliefs are important and should influence government policy."

You scored 45 out of 100 on a scale of Theist vs Materialist. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to believe that religion and spirituality are superstitions that should not inform political debate.

* 24% of test takers were more theist than you.
* 75% of test takers were more materialist than you.

Big Government vs Small Government

"The big government advocate believes that governments should be responsible for regulating a wide array of social practices, even what might be considered personal decisions such as abortion, euthanasia, children's education and births. A small government advocate thinks that, wherever possible, these issues should be up to individuals or companies to direct."

You scored 88 out of 100 on a scale of Big Government vs Small Government. This means that politically you are more likely to believe that government should keep out of legislating social policies, leaving such decisions to individuals.

* 96% of test takers were more big government than you.
* 3% of test takers were more small government than you.

Nationalist vs Internationalist

"The nationalist believes in the sovereign rule of nation states, particularly his or her own. The internationalist believes that there should be more important international fora and perhaps, ultimately, international government."

You scored 35 out of 100 on a scale of Nationalist vs Internationalist. This means that politically you are less likely to favour international bodies over national ones.

* 11% of test takers were more nationalist than you.
* 88% of test takers were more internationalist than you.

Protectionist vs Free Trader

"The protectionist believes in barriers against free trade most probably due to a belief that this is in his or her country's interests. The free trader rejects such notions, believing that the system ultimately suffers when tariffs, subsidies and other obstacles to free trade persist."

You scored 53 out of 100 on a scale of Protectionist vs Free Trader. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to favour free trade over protectionist policies.

* 46% of test takers were more protectionist than you.
* 52% of test takers were more pro free trade than you.

Absolutist vs Non-Absolutist

"The absolutist believes that either a divine presence or scientific laws provide absolute truths about the world, which can and should be applied in practise. The non-absolutist may be either a relativist, or simply someone who is more pragmatic."

You scored 64 out of 100 on a scale of Absolutist vs Non Absolutist. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that there is an absolute truth that may guide your ideological beliefs.

* 72% of test takers were more absolutist than you.
* 24% of test takers were more non-absolutist than you.

Controlled Market vs Liberal Market

"Both of these categories assume a capitalist system. Assuming this system, the controlled market believer holds that government should intervene in regulating a nation's economy: wage laws, environmental standards, privatised industries and workplace relations policy. A liberal market thinker believes that such regulation is unnecessary and often counter-productive."

You scored 68 out of 100 on a scale of Controlled Market vs Liberal Market. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that there is need for government regulation of industry.

* 86% of test takers were more controlled market thinkers than you.
* 13% of test takers were more liberal market thinkers than you.

Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you an individually-orientated, theist, big-government, nationalist, free-trade, liberal-market kind of person, who doesn't sound like a Marxist.

You scored 37 out of 100 on a scale of Individual vs Social. This means that politically you are less likely to value the need for group actions and group benefit over individual enterprise and benefit.

You scored 23 out of 100 on a scale of Theist vs Materialist. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that religion and spirituality are superstitions that should not inform political debate.
Ackyuna

You scored 23 out of 100 on a scale of Big Government vs Small Government. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that government should keep out of legislating social policies, leaving such decisions to individuals.

You scored 30 out of 100 on a scale of Nationalist vs Internationalist. This means that politically you are less likely to favour international bodies over national ones.

You scored 100 out of 100 on a scale of Protectionist vs Free Trader. This means that politically you are more likely to favour free trade over protectionist policies.

You scored 60 out of 100 on a scale of Absolutist vs Non Absolutist. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to believe that there is an absolute truth that may guide your ideological beliefs.

You scored 86 out of 100 on a scale of Controlled Market vs Liberal Market. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that there is need for government regulation of industry.

You scored 85 out of 100 on a scale of Marxist vs Non-Marxist. This means that politically you are less likely to follow the philosophies of Marx.

socially-orientated, small-government, protectionist, non-absolutist, controlled-market kind of person, who also seems quite Marxist.

72 out of 100 on a scale of Individual vs Social

50 out of 100 on a scale of Theist vs Materialist

72 out of 100 on a scale of Big Government vs Small Government

47 out of 100 on a scale of Nationalist vs Internationalist

3 out of 100 on a scale of Protectionist vs Free Trader (F*** XAFTA! :mp5: )

68 out of 100 on a scale of Absolutist vs Non Absolutist

14 out of 100 on a scale of Controlled Market vs Liberal Market

36 out of 100 on a scale of Marxist vs Non-Marxist

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?

Hmmm... the first question (1. Where on a standard political spectrum would you place yourself? Extreme Left Far/Left/Moderate Left/Moderate/Moderate Right/Far Right/Extreme Right) assumes the traditional scale and leaves no option for those such as Libertarians/classical Liberals who already know they don't fit on that spectrum.


Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you an individually-orientated, materialist, small-government, free-trade, liberal-market kind of person, who doesn't sound like a Marxist.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of libertarian. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Liberalism area.


Individual vs Social

"The individualist believes that society works best through a focus on individual rights, freedoms, actions and responsibilities. The social thinker believes that the ideal state should focus more upon collective action and take a social approach to rights and responsibilities."


Individual

Social



You scored 32 out of 100 on a scale of Individual vs Social. This means that politically you are less likely to value the need for group actions and group benefit over individual enterprise and benefit.

* 10% of test takers were more individual than you.
* 89% of test takers were more social than you.




Theist vs Materialist

"The materialist believes that all objective criteria to influence politics can be reasonably derived without recourse to the divine or the spiritual. The theist believes that spiritual beliefs are important and should influence government policy."


Theist

Materialist



You scored 72 out of 100 on a scale of Theist vs Materialist. This means that politically you are more likely to believe that religion and spirituality are superstitions that should not inform political debate.

* 69% of test takers were more theist than you.
* 29% of test takers were more materialist than you.




Big Government vs Small Government

"The big government advocate believes that governments should be responsible for regulating a wide array of social practices, even what might be considered personal decisions such as abortion, euthanasia, children's education and births. A small government advocate thinks that, wherever possible, these issues should be up to individuals or companies to direct."


Big Gov

Small Gov



You scored 82 out of 100 on a scale of Big Government vs Small Government. This means that politically you are more likely to believe that government should keep out of legislating social policies, leaving such decisions to individuals.

* 91% of test takers were more big government than you.
* 8% of test takers were more small government than you.




Nationalist vs Internationalist

"The nationalist believes in the sovereign rule of nation states, particularly his or her own. The internationalist believes that there should be more important international fora and perhaps, ultimately, international government."


National

International



You scored 43 out of 100 on a scale of Nationalist vs Internationalist. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to favour international bodies over national ones.

* 19% of test takers were more nationalist than you.
* 80% of test takers were more internationalist than you.




Protectionist vs Free Trader

"The protectionist believes in barriers against free trade most probably due to a belief that this is in his or her country's interests. The free trader rejects such notions, believing that the system ultimately suffers when tariffs, subsidies and other obstacles to free trade persist."


Protection

Free-Trade



You scored 100 out of 100 on a scale of Protectionist vs Free Trader. This means that politically you are more likely to favour free trade over protectionist policies.

* 97% of test takers were more protectionist than you.
* 0% of test takers were more pro free trade than you.




Absolutist vs Non-Absolutist

"The absolutist believes that either a divine presence or scientific laws provide absolute truths about the world, which can and should be applied in practise. The non-absolutist may be either a relativist, or simply someone who is more pragmatic."


Absolute

Non-Absolute



You scored 50 out of 100 on a scale of Absolutist vs Non Absolutist. This means that politically you are neither more nor less likely to believe that there is an absolute truth that may guide your ideological beliefs.

* 24% of test takers were more absolutist than you.
* 73% of test takers were more non-absolutist than you.




Controlled Market vs Liberal Market

"Both of these categories assume a capitalist system. Assuming this system, the controlled market believer holds that government should intervene in regulating a nation's economy: wage laws, environmental standards, privatised industries and workplace relations policy. A liberal market thinker believes that such regulation is unnecessary and often counter-productive."


Controlled

Liberal



You scored 81 out of 100 on a scale of Controlled Market vs Liberal Market. This means that politically you are less likely to believe that there is need for government regulation of industry.

* 93% of test takers were more controlled market thinkers than you.
* 7% of test takers were more liberal market thinkers than you.




Marxist vs Non-Marxist

"This scale purports to show to what extent you follow the thought and teachings of Marx. Marxists tend to be scientific, materialist and revolutionary, believe in class struggle and the laws of historical and dialectic materialism."


Marxist

Non-Marxist



You scored 61 out of 100 on a scale of Marxist vs Non-Marxist. This means that politically you are less likely to follow the philosophies of Marx.

* 80% of test takers were more Marxist than you.
* 18% of test takers were more non-Marxist than you.

Hmmm... the first question (1. Where on a standard political spectrum would you place yourself? Extreme Left Far/Left/Moderate Left/Moderate/Moderate Right/Far Right/Extreme Right) assumes the traditional scale and leaves no option for those such as Libertarians/classical Liberals who already know they don't fit on that spectrum.

If you read the question by question run-downs, it says that that one (and several others) did not count towards the test and were included purely for interests sake.

http://www.orgburo.com/pofo.php

Maybe you like this one better?
AHAHAHA! That one gave a nice result...

" Overall, the PoliticsForum quiz considers you a socially-orientated, materialist, controlled-market kind of person.

These characteristics would put you in the overall category of fascist or nationalist. Your natural home at PoliticsForum would be the Platonism & Dictatorship area."

Dictatorship!? I'm a socialist-democrat, not exactly dictatorshippy...

Sonaj, varje gång jag ser dig undrar jag en sak: var ligger Gatesville?

Gatesville är regionen jag är i :D Jag bor i norberg, västmanland.

Aha! Då var det därför jag inte kunde hitta Grindby på kartan...

Mycket möjligt.