21.4.07

Notes

Additional information may be put here from time-to-time...

The Big Picture

The design of the Political Objectives Test is such that it cannot be accurately represented as a chart or compass like many other multi-dimensional politics tests. However, for those who find it useful to visualize, I will try describing an approximate graphical representation of the relationships between the many descriptions.

Imagine a wheel consisting of three concentric rings and six spokes radiating from a hub. The hub represents any and all of the balanced descriptions of Apathetic and Moderate and Confused Extremist (the last more oscillates wildly rather than resting in balance). Another way to distinguish these further is to imagine that the hub itself is a ring (moderates) with a core (apathetic) at its centre while there is a further ring beyond the spokes which encircles the entire wheel (this is the confused extremists). From the hub we come to the six spokes (moving clockwise).

Arrayed along the Liberty spoke (from centre to periphery) are Liberal then Libertarian then Anarchist.

Arrayed along the Liberty+Stability spoke (from centre to periphery) are Establishmentarian then Reactionary then Survivalist.

Arrayed along the Stability spoke (from centre to periphery) are Conservative then Ultra-Conservative then Fascist.

Arrayed along the Equality+Stability spoke (from centre to periphery) are Communitarian then Authoritarian then Totalitarian.

Arrayed along the Equality spoke (from centre to periphery) are Socialist then Utopian Socialist then Communist.

Arrayed along the Liberty+Equality spoke (from centre to periphery) are Progressive then Radical then Revolutionary.

Another way to look at the relationships between the descriptions is with reference to the concentric rings.

The innermost ring (in a clockwise direction) has the following conventional forms of politics that seek to optimize particular values: Liberal then Establishmentarian then Conservative then Communitarian then Socialist then Progressive then back to Liberal.

The intermediate ring (in a clockwise direction) has the following transitional or alternative forms of politics that seek to maximize particular values: Libertarian then Reactionary then Ultra-Conservative then Authoritarian then Utopian Socialist then Radical then back to Libertarian.

The outermost ring (in a clockwise direction) has the following extremist forms of politics that seek to totalize or transgress particular values: Anarchist then Survivalist then Fascist then Totalitarian then Communist then Revolutionary then back to Anarchist.

Hopefully this text description makes sense and vistors can see the wheel thus traced.

Internationals

Some results of the Political Objectives Test provide links to three major international networks of political parties. Those 'internationals' are the Socialist International (SI) for social-democratic parties, the Liberal International (LI) for liberal parties and the Centrist Democrat International (CDI) for conservative parties.

A party is an aggregate of many members. And an international is both an aggregate of many parties which are aggregates of many members. As such generalizations of the political character of an international are just that. That is why my references to those internationals stresses that they embrace and cut across different forms of political ideology. They also change over time while preserving many aspects of historical nomenclature.

The SI includes many garden-variety socialist parties while its history shows a growing progressive identity. Those SI members that are most successful as holders of government majority tend to be more moderate than anything. Finally there is a communitarian presence in the SI that tends to derive from less developed or affluent nations.

The LI includes many classical liberals but it also accommodates both progressives and establishmentarians and its mission statements are carefully worded to be inclusive of all strands of liberalism. Those few LI members that are most successful as frequent holders of government majority tend to be more moderate than anything.

The CDI includes many garden-variety conservative parties while its history shows a growing establishmentarian identity. Those CDI members that are most successful as holders of government majority tend to be more moderate than anything. Finally there is a communitarian presence in the CDI that tends to derive from less developed or affluent nations.

Be mindful that the composition of internationals are always changing and parties will move from group to group. Also be aware there are other internationals that sit between the ones referred to here.

Statement of Bias

It is worth stating my own political biases as the author of the Political Objectives Test. My own test result is 'Progressive' with scores of 78% Liberty 78% Equality 29% Stability. This very much fits with my own self-image and past political involvement. But how much does it affect the way in which I have written the test?

If my questions made the Progressive result too attractive then I would expect my survey results to be different. More than 22% of participants would be Progressive and it would be the largest group (rather than one of two largest groups). Likewise those of opposing sentiment would be depicted as unattractive. Feedback says otherwise. The opposite of Progressive within the 'Conventional Ring' is Conservative. Persons who are given a Conservative result by my test with whom I have corresponded say that they find it an accurate and even complimentary description.

I need to draw a distinction however between emotional and intellectual bias. As a progressive I have an aversion to Fascism more than any other political movement. And yet as a student of politics I consider both Communism and Fascism to be as dangerous as one another. My emotional preference is for those movements that champion a combination of liberty and equality but my intellectual preference is for any movement that engages in compromise with others in the context of multi-party parliamentary democracy. As such I am closer to the Conservative than to the Revolutionary.

If one examines my descriptions of different results one will see that criticism and sometimes even a hint of lampooning only enters into my descriptions for non-conventional forms of politics. Nonetheless I think that I have provided descriptions which draw on the statements and concepts of different movements themselves. In this sense I feel I have represented them accurately.