These are the two principal axes (eigenvectors) derived from all the survey responses and against which your answers are judged. The names in inverted commas should not be taken too seriously; they are only labels. If you want to know what each axis "means", read the list of statements which make it up. Note that the data give as many principal axes as there are statements, but all but the first two don't correspond to real systematic variation in the results.
Only the first (most important) 40 statements are shown. Note that the direction of the axes is, obviously, arbitrary, but for clarity we have picked particular directions, as noted below. The "strength" of each statement indicates how important it is in determining your position on each axis; the position is obtained by multiplying your response to each statement, ranging from -2 for "disagree strongly" to +2 for "agree strongly", by the "strength", and adding up all the values.
Note that you may not have seen exactly these statements when you took the survey; rather, in some cases you may have seen the opposite statements. You can see the complete list of statements, which shows each statement in both forms. Below we have written out each axis in the form of a list of the all the statements with which somebody on the extreme end of the axis would agree.
This axis is quite like the familiar left/right political division. It mixes economic issues -- varying from laisser faire to interventionist perspective -- and social or "moral" issues such as recommending the death penalty to punish criminals. We choose to give "the right" positive values on this axis.
| Statement | Strength |
|---|---|
| Some crimes are so serious that the only proper punishment is the death penalty. | 0.2611 |
| Services like health care, education and social security should be provided by private enterprise, not by the government. | 0.1972 |
| People who refuse to work should run the risk of going hungry. | 0.1824 |
| Aggressive foreign policies can put a stop to international terrorism. | 0.1824 |
| Companies should be free to pay their executives any salary, however large. | 0.1812 |
| Aid projects abroad should always be funded by charities, not the taxpayer. | 0.1771 |
| There are some sexual acts which are immoral, even between consenting adults. | 0.1752 |
| Sometimes it's necessary to sack people who go on strike. | 0.1740 |
| The wealthy shouldn't pay a larger proportion of their income in tax than the poor. | 0.1723 |
| It's more important to punish criminals than to rehabilitate them. | 0.1669 |
| Everyone should stand up for the National Anthem. | 0.1653 |
| It doesn't matter whether the mix of minorities in public institutions reflects their numbers in the general population. | 0.1647 |
| Anybody who wants top-quality health care should expect to have to pay for it. | 0.1638 |
| National law should always override international agreements. | 0.1611 |
| Our nation has a glorious history. | 0.1521 |
| Our sense of right and wrong comes from religious faith. | 0.1514 |
| Workers don't need to resort to collective bargaining to achieve fair pay. | 0.1458 |
| No woman should be allowed to have an abortion, whatever the circumstances. | 0.1443 |
| Sometimes civilians are a legitimate military target. | 0.1426 |
| Shared religious beliefs should be an important part of our society. | 0.1423 |
| Drivers shouldn't have to pay taxes to cover damage to the environment caused by motor transport, since that would price some people off the roads. | 0.1357 |
| There is a place for organised religion in government. | 0.1350 |
| Art shouldn't receive government funding. | 0.1337 |
| It is acceptable to use any amount of force you choose to defend your property from criminals. | 0.1317 |
| We can't offer sanctuary to everyone who is fleeing persecution. | 0.1304 |
| New roads and railways should be built by private companies, not the government. | 0.1298 |
| Some people should not have access to the Internet. | 0.1287 |
| Overall, young people benefit from compulsory military service. | 0.1276 |
| Family is more important than society. | 0.1254 |
| To protect society from drug abuse, narcotics must be banned. | 0.1236 |
| It is never necessary to break the law to make a legitimate point of view heard. | 0.1226 |
| It is immoral to be lazy. | 0.1152 |
| Religious faith should be based on the literal word of God. | 0.1139 |
| Overall, economic migrants are a drain on our country. | 0.1134 |
| In the right circumstances, cutting taxes can increase government revenue. | 0.1128 |
| Children should always obey their parents. | 0.1086 |
| The government should raise revenue by taxing consumption rather than income. | 0.1084 |
| Class distinctions should exist. | 0.1069 |
| Governments will always be more powerful than large corporations. | 0.1067 |
| Marijuana is a more dangerous drug than alcohol. | 0.1044 |
| all others | 1.5709 |
This axis is much less important than the first. It represents a combination of philosophies you could call "pragmatism", "utilitarianism" and so forth, mixing social, religious and economic issues. We have chosen to give an atheist, utilitarian perspective positive values on this axis.
| Statement | Strength |
|---|---|
| There is no such thing as an immoral sexual act between consenting adults. | 0.2893 |
| Scientists bear no moral responsibility for how their discoveries are used. | 0.2741 |
| There's no need to subsidise farmers if we can buy food more cheaply from abroad, even if that meant they went out of business. | 0.2613 |
| We should make use of any technology, if it benefits us. | 0.2544 |
| Sometimes it's necessary to sack people who go on strike. | 0.2240 |
| Companies should be free to pay their executives any salary, however large. | 0.2150 |
| We don't need religious faith to have a sense of right and wrong. | 0.1934 |
| Shared religious belief isn't an important part of our society. | 0.1917 |
| It is not necessary to ban narcotics to protect society from drug abuse. | 0.1843 |
| There is no place for organised religion in government. | 0.1756 |
| Economic globalisation will decrease inequality. | 0.1740 |
| Abortion is acceptable in some cases. | 0.1715 |
| Services like health care, education and social security should be provided by private enterprise, not by the government. | 0.1662 |
| It's more important to make the poor richer than to decrease the gap between rich and poor. | 0.1592 |
| Religious faith needn't be based on the literal word of God. | 0.1464 |
| Beneficial medical research should always go ahead, however many animal experiments would be performed | 0.1445 |
| Laziness is not immoral. | 0.1435 |
| New roads and railways should be built by private companies, not the government. | 0.1370 |
| Sometimes schools should teach children things which contradict their parents' religious faith. | 0.1289 |
| Sometimes interest rates should be raised to reduce inflation, even if doing so would cause a large number of job losses. | 0.1266 |
| Anybody who wants top-quality health care should expect to have to pay for it. | 0.1255 |
| Sometimes children shouldn't obey their parents. | 0.1253 |
| Sometimes civilians are a legitimate military target. | 0.1198 |
| Workers don't need to resort to collective bargaining to achieve fair pay. | 0.1169 |
| In the right circumstances, cutting taxes can increase government revenue. | 0.1131 |
| We should maintain the right to free expression, even if some people use it to create trouble. | 0.1081 |
| It's acceptable for a businessman to bribe a foreign official to complete a sale. | 0.1063 |
| Dealing with nuisance crimes like petty vandalism makes serious crime less likely. | 0.1055 |
| Art shouldn't receive government funding. | 0.0959 |
| The wealthy shouldn't pay a larger proportion of their income in tax than the poor. | 0.0908 |
| People of any ethnic group can be fully integrated into our society. | 0.0899 |
| Governments will always be more powerful than large corporations. | 0.0895 |
| Breaking the law is not always immoral. | 0.0879 |
| The government should raise revenue by taxing consumption rather than income. | 0.0872 |
| Alcohol is a more dangerous drug than marijuana. | 0.0852 |
| Overall, economic migrants bring benefits to our country. | 0.0825 |
| Fundamentally, the people of this country have the same character as those of our neighbours. | 0.0801 |
| Members of society needn't be familiar with the history and traditions of our culture. | 0.0771 |
| Schools should do much more than just training people for the workforce. | 0.0759 |
| Workers in the public sector shouldn't expect to earn as much as those doing similar jobs in private industry. | 0.0759 |
| all others | 1.0759 |
Political Survey: an open, honest version of politicalcompass.org.
Copyright © 2003 Chris Lightfoot.
Available under a
Creative Commons
Licence.
Sponsored by Mythic Beasts Ltd.