After years of people trying to fit me into the Left or the Right, and watching the SC surveys that broke Republican voters into many categories, I decided to do some research and add some dimension to the topic. Ironically I still land somewhere between Reagan and Clinton on this chart. (seems about correct)
What are your thoughts on these type of charts or do you believe it is simpler than they make it? I found it interesting that they put Democrat and Conservative both on the Totalitarian side of the line... Seems about correct given their desire to impose their beliefs on others.
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17 comments:
I am often surprised at the leftist ideas that come from Republicans. Mitt Romney, for example, is in favor of equal opportunity for all Americans. I would never go that far. Republicans, in general, often argue that patients should have control over their own health care, a position located somewhere to the left of Lenin.
--Hiram
I still say there are only two kinds of people in the world – those who like to put everybody into neat little categories and those who don't.
Sorry, but even if I were willing to put myself on a Nolan chart, I would need one all to myself, because it depends on the issue! and THEN I'm not sure I would fit.
J. Ewing
Hiram,
The challenge with Republicans / Conservatives is that they are confused. They want morality laws to control others. (ie Totalitarian) And they want no Gov't regulations that control their personal choices. (Anarchist) No wonder they seem inconsistent and flipflop over the horizontal line.
As for the vertical line, they seem pretty consistently off to the right side to me. (ie few safety nets, pay for yourself, etc) They may want to let everyone succeed, but it will by that person's efforts. (ie little wealth redistribution via gov't)
J,
I don't know, after years of writing with you. I think most of your views seem to land pretty squarely in the Conservative camp. (ie pro-voucher, anti-progressive tax rates, pro-competition in "public" service domain, less business regulation, more personal behavioral regulation, etc) I'd love to hear where you stray from that far right corner.
Economics +4.62
Social +0.21
Where "Hard right" = (10,10) I guess I'm a washout, a wishy-washy Romney moderate.
Or it may be that I can see both sides of every argument, and see through the "trick questions" in the test.
J. Ewing
When you have only two parties, and multiple issues, you are bound to have a lot of ideological tension. And the issues, and attitudes associated with them often transcend party. The tea party, and the occupy Wall Street both share a suspicion if not outright hostility towards Wall Street, and the power of finance, something that goes back to the beginning of our history and before. The Republican Party is among other things, a coalition between social and economic conservatives, something that Mitt Romney's multiple flip flops often embody. The cynic in me suggests that the economic conservatives of the Republican Party are willing to compromise on social issues, because they believe their wealth and class insulates them from being negatively affected by these issues. The Democratic Party is a coalition of too many forces to name here. Historically, it was a coalition between Northern big city labor, and southern conservatives. The Democrats lost the southern conservatives somewhere along the line.
--Hiram
I thought the Democrats were the ones who believe in strong wealth redistribution via taxation and programs... I think their supporters could come from almost any segment of our population.
The Republicans seem much more complex to me because of all the religion and personal constraints they want to infuse into the Laws. Then they get angry at smoking bans...
Darn, people are confusing.
Am I not allowed to comment anymore? I've responded twice but still don't see it.
J. Ewing
I thought the Democrats were the ones who believe in strong wealth redistribution via taxation and programs
No, that's simply a Republican political talking point. The fact is, politicians, and the pundit class that serve and enables them, don't understand business or economics, something reflected in the wealth redistribution talking points. Pols and pundits think wealth creation is a zero sum game, on that strangely goes only one way. They believe that wealth is fixed and finite, and that any change in tax rates shifts wealth from one economic bracket to another. This, of course, isn't the case and nobody when thinking outside a political context really thinks it is. It is quite possible that a change in tax rates, can lead to greater economic activity, something Republicans also seem to believe, when the political context is different.
For a long time, we have been pursuing a set of economic policies that have the effect of concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. The result of these policies has been an overall decline of the American economy, and that includes a decline in the fortunes of the wealthy, if not the super wealthy.
We were a growing, prospering economy during the era of Mitt Romney's dad who while earning a good living as a car maker, did not accumulating dynastic wealth. Mitt on the other hand accumulated dynastic wealth in a time of overall economic decline.
Doesn't that tell us something?
--Hiram
J,
As my smart alec IT folks would say... You apparently had a temporary problem between your seat and the keyboard...
Keep me aprised if it does not improve. I did not get the email notifications, so I am sure where the signal got lost.
several of my comments have been rejected
One of my really great rejected comments included this link:
political typology
It scored me as a solid liberal even though I disagreed with this statement:
"government should do more to help needy Americans, even if it means going deeper into debt"
J and Laurie,
Sorry for any system glitches. I went through my deleted emails and they all posted... Not sure what I can do.
Hiram or others,
Have you had any issues lately?
Laurie,
Maybe the test has ESP or something... I'll give it a try when I get a moment.
Tonight I will be at Armstrong HS learning about College Financial aid... College for the oldest is only ~19 mths away... Where did that ~17 yrs go...
Squeezed the test in. It put me in the middle... I am a "Post Modern"... I'll have to remember that the next time one of the MN Publius regulars call me a "Conservative"...
Typology Categories
The questions were vexing, given it was hard to agree with either of the options in some cases.
I scored 14 on this test: http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/01/bubble-what-bubble-my-bubble-score-is.php
My Political Compass score was:
Economic Left/Right: -0.25 (ie dead center)
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.74 (ie somewhat libertarian)
Half way between Gandhi and Friedman... whatever that means...
Political Compass Key
Bummer Speed, I only got 12...Bubble Test
Time to start hanging out with some evangelical smokers... (hahaha)
Have you had any issues lately?
I am not aware of any, but I don't pay that much attention as to whether my posts stay up or not.
--Hiram
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