Is The Left versus Right Political Axis Enough?

I have learned many things over the years about many different subjects. One of the biggest lessons I have learned is definitely the fact that:

"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing"

During the referendum campaign Scotland's political psyche was awoken and for the first time in many many years "normal" people became politically active and took part in debates and discussion all over the country. The rights and wrongs of both sides were discussed, sometimes heatedly, in every home, pub, workplace and shop. It was enlightening that so many people engaged in politics, after all it's their lives that are being affected by decisions made by those able to make them. 

Although I believe that many people got involved through the passion of the argument, I believe one of the main reasons that the referendum lent itself to such engagement was it's singular issue nature. There were only two answers to the one question that was being asked. Yes or No. Indeed there were many issues to discuss within that but ultimately there were only two camps. Yes and No. 

Since the referendum the engagement appears to have maintained a reasonably high level. This is fantastic. It can only be good for our country that it's citizens want to keep having a voice in their destiny. There are some problems though, as we approach our first election since the referendum, and it's a biggie, it's a UK parliamentary election. The question we are being asked is now not singular, it is multi faceted and there are not two answers there are multiple ones, that being the political parties that are asking for our vote. 

One way that it used to describe the parties in an attempt to distinguish them, is to place them on an singular axis of left and right. It is a model that has been in existence for hundreds of years and dates back to The French National Assembly in the late 1700's. The problem with this is how do you then distinguish between say Robert Mugabe and the Dalai Lama? On a simple left and right axis they are almost the same. Anybody with an ounce of knowledge knows that these two men are worlds apart. In no sense would anybody be happy saying these men were politically similar. So what can we do to separate these people to make sense. Well, we introduce another axis. That of authoritarian and libertarian. These describe how much influence is asserted by the government on the people it serves.

The best place to see the results of this are at The Political Compass. A fantastic website where this is explored to full effect. Based on these two sets of axis a compilation of some famous persons in history are shown by the site:

We can now see there is a representation of the of the fact that the Dalai Lama and Robert Mugabe are on a similar place on the left/right axis but are now at very different sides when the authoritarian/libertarian axis is taken into account. 

The Political Compass site has a test that you can all take. I'm sure that you will be roughly aware of where you stand on left or right of the spectrum but you may well not be aware of what side of the authoritarian/libertarian spectrum you actually stand. The problem with not being aware of your stance (and therefore the stance of the party you may support at the General Election), you may well be voting for a party that you actually don't agree with at all which is, well, horrific for you.

The site is full of other information including where certain parties are aligned both in the United Kingdom and internationally. One disclaimer would be that the UK political party positions are based on the manifestos of the General Election of 2010 although this will be updated for the coming election.

Please give this a go, its anonymous, and the results may amaze you. They did for me the first time I did it. It may change your voting strategy forever.

Drop me a comment and let me know how you get on.