My Political
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A deeper look at your political values.

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Complete fictional sample

The responses below were deliberately invented to demonstrate the report. They do not represent a real person, a population average, or the result you will receive. Your report uses your own saved answers and includes a PDF download.

FICTIONAL EXAMPLE · 48/48 ANSWERED

The commitments behind your spectrum.

Your clearest sampled leanings are civil liberties (strong liberty), religion & public life (strong secular), social change (strong tradition). These are the largest distances from the midpoint, not a ranking of what you care about. 7 of your twelve axes include answers pointing in both directions. The following pages explore those combinations using the statements you actually answered.

This is an educational interpretation of your answers, not a validated assessment. Percentages are not population percentiles or probabilities of belonging to an ideology.

01 / READ ACROSS THE AXES

How your values fit together.

Who pays, and who provides?

On redistribution, your answers lean toward greater economic equality; on essential services, your answers fall near the midpoint. These are related choices, but funding, ownership, and the right to access a service still need separate decisions.

Economic equality: 69% equality, 31% markets (4/4 answered). Public services: 44% public, 56% private (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

For health care, decide separately: who funds it, who runs it, and what access everyone is guaranteed. Which part of your answer follows from each axis?

Freedom and economic responsibility

On civil liberties, your answers lean toward stronger civil liberties; on economic policy, your answers lean toward greater economic equality. This combines a preference for civil freedom with redistribution. Strong privacy or protest protections do not logically require a small welfare state.

Civil liberties: 94% liberty, 6% authority (4/4 answered). Economic equality: 69% equality, 31% markets (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

Name one action government should take to improve economic opportunity, and one power it should never gain in doing so. What justifies that boundary?

Whose decision, at what level?

On democratic voice, your answers lean toward direct public participation; on the location of power, your answers fall near the midpoint. Direct voting can occur nationally, and elected representatives can govern locally. Your two results answer different institutional questions.

Democratic voice: 69% direct, 31% representative (4/4 answered). Distribution of power: 50% local, 50% central (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

Imagine a town votes to block housing that a wider region needs. Who should decide, what rights constrain them, and how should people appeal?

Custom, choice, and enforcement

On social change, your answers lean toward cultural continuity; on civil liberties, your answers lean toward stronger civil liberties. This can mean valuing traditions while protecting people who choose not to follow them. Preserving a custom voluntarily differs from enforcing it through law.

Social change: 19% progress, 81% tradition (4/4 answered). Civil liberties: 94% liberty, 6% authority (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

Choose a tradition you value or a reform you support. Would you promote it through persuasion, public funding, or a legal obligation? Where does your answer change?

Cooperation and the use of force

On international authority, your answers lean toward international cooperation; on military policy, your answers lean toward military deterrence and force. Support for international rules can coexist with military deterrence or collective enforcement. Cooperation does not necessarily imply opposition to every use of force.

Global cooperation: 75% global, 25% sovereign (4/4 answered). Peace & security: 38% diplomacy, 62% force (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

If negotiations fail and an international agreement is violated, who may authorize a response? Set out one condition for using force and one condition that rules it out.

Who bears the cost of transition?

On environmental policy, your answers fall near the midpoint; on economic policy, your answers lean toward greater economic equality. The test separates willingness to accept environmental costs from preferences about how costs are distributed. A policy needs an answer to both.

Environment & growth: 50% ecology, 50% growth (4/4 answered). Economic equality: 69% equality, 31% markets (4/4 answered).

Work through a concrete case

Consider a rule that cuts emissions but raises energy bills. Who should absorb the cost, how much help is justified, and what evidence would tell you the policy works?

02 / THE EVIDENCE BEHIND YOUR SCORES

What the average leaves out.

Open each axis to see the exact responses behind its interpretation. A mixed position can be coherent when the circumstances differ.

Economic equalityLeans equality · 4/4 answered69% Equality

You favor using taxes, transfers, and economic rules to narrow material inequality. Unequal starting points matter to you, and you see a role for collective action in making living standards more equal. Support for markets does not imply opposition to every safety net. Support for redistribution does not imply support for a fully planned economy. This axis concerns redistribution; ownership of services is measured separately.

Your answers point in both directions: 3 toward equality and 1 toward markets, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeGovernment should do more to reduce the gap between the richest and poorest people.
  • DisagreeLower taxes on business investment are generally worth allowing more economic inequality.
  • AgreeLarge inheritances should be taxed more heavily to fund opportunities for people with less wealth.
  • AgreeDifferences in income should mainly reflect what people can earn in the market.
A question to work through

Consider a higher tax on very large inheritances used to fund equal starting grants for young adults. How would you weigh opportunity, property rights, and incentives? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Public servicesMixed / balanced · 4/4 answered44% Public

Your aggregate score is near the midpoint. Read the answer pattern below to distinguish neutrality from a combination of different preferences. Funding and ownership are different decisions. Public insurance can pay private doctors, and public utilities can buy from private suppliers. Your score summarizes these questions; it cannot capture every mixed system.

Your answers point in both directions: 1 toward public and 3 toward private, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeEssential health care should be publicly funded and available to everyone.
  • AgreePrivate competition is usually the best way to improve essential services.
  • DisagreeWater and electricity networks should generally be publicly owned.
  • AgreeFamilies should have more freedom to direct public education funding to private schools.
A question to work through

A city must replace an unreliable water network. Would you prefer a publicly owned utility, a regulated private operator, or a mix? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Work & ownershipLeans collective · 4/4 answered75% Collective

You favor collective bargaining, worker representation, and shared influence over workplace decisions. You see an individual employee as having less bargaining power than an employer and value institutions that address that imbalance. A preference for worker voice does not require opposition to entrepreneurship. A preference for individual negotiation does not imply indifference to workplace safety. This dimension examines how decisions and bargaining power are shared.

Your non-neutral answers consistently point toward collective in this sample. 1 answered statement was neutral. Consistency here does not establish certainty about policies the test did not ask about.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeWorkers should have a legal right to negotiate pay collectively.
  • DisagreePay and working conditions are best agreed between each employee and their employer.
  • AgreeEmployees should elect some of the board members of large companies.
  • NeutralBusiness owners should have the final say over how their companies are managed.
A question to work through

Should large companies reserve some board seats for representatives elected by their workers, even when shareholders would prefer otherwise? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Civil libertiesStrong liberty · 4/4 answered94% Liberty

You put a high priority on speech, privacy, protest, and limits on coercion. You generally want the government to justify restrictions on individual freedom, even when restrictions might make enforcement easier. Both positions can value safety and freedom. The difference is the tradeoff when those goals conflict. This axis does not measure kindness, morality, or loyalty, and it does not tell us which rights you value most.

Your non-neutral answers consistently point toward liberty in this sample. 0 answered statements were neutral. Consistency here does not establish certainty about policies the test did not ask about.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreePeaceful protest should remain legal even when it seriously inconveniences the public.
  • Strongly disagreePolice should have broader surveillance powers when those powers help prevent serious crime.
  • Strongly agreeAdults should generally be free to make personal choices that do not directly harm others.
  • DisagreeAuthorities should be able to restrict public gatherings when they expect serious disorder.
A question to work through

Would you permit police to use broad facial recognition in public spaces if it helped solve serious crimes but also tracked people who had done nothing wrong? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Democratic voiceLeans direct · 4/4 answered69% Direct

You prefer more direct public participation through referendums, citizen initiatives, and participatory decision-making. You want people to retain a meaningful say between elections. Both endpoints are democratic arrangements. A representative preference is not a measure of authoritarianism. Direct participation can also coexist with elected institutions and constitutional protections.

Your answers point in both directions: 3 toward direct and 1 toward representative, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • AgreeCitizens should be able to put proposed laws to a binding public vote.
  • AgreeElected representatives should usually decide complex policy questions instead of referendums.
  • Strongly agreeResidents should directly decide how a portion of their local public budget is spent.
  • DisagreeRepresentatives should be free to vote against current public opinion when their considered judgment differs.
A question to work through

For a complicated transport budget, would you prefer residents voting directly on the options or an elected council hearing evidence and deciding? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Distribution of powerMixed / balanced · 4/4 answered50% Local

Your aggregate score is near the midpoint. Read the answer pattern below to distinguish neutrality from a combination of different preferences. People often favor local control in one policy area and national rules in another. This score records an overall tendency in the sampled questions, not a position on every division of government responsibilities.

Your answers point in both directions: 2 toward local and 2 toward central, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeLocal governments should have more freedom to set policies that differ from national ones.
  • AgreeNational standards should take priority when regional policies produce unequal access to services.
  • AgreeMore tax revenue should remain under local rather than national control.
  • Strongly agreeA strong national government is usually better placed to coordinate major infrastructure.
A question to work through

Should local governments set their own housing rules, or should national rules require every region to permit enough new homes? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Social changeStrong tradition · 4/4 answered19% Progress

You place more weight on inherited customs, social continuity, and established institutions. You tend to prefer cautious change and ask what might be lost when long-standing practices are replaced. Tradition and progress are context-dependent: a custom can be recent in one country and old in another. Either position can support specific reforms. The test asks about your general approach rather than judging a whole culture.

Your non-neutral answers consistently point toward tradition in this sample. 0 answered statements were neutral. Consistency here does not establish certainty about policies the test did not ask about.

Your actual answers

  • DisagreeSocial institutions should adapt quickly when people’s ways of living change.
  • Strongly agreeLong-standing customs deserve the benefit of the doubt when their purpose is unclear.
  • DisagreePeople should feel free to reject traditional family roles.
  • AgreePreserving cultural continuity is a good reason to approach social reform cautiously.
A question to work through

When a long-standing public ceremony no longer reflects how many residents live, should it be redesigned quickly or preserved while changes happen gradually? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Religion & public lifeStrong secular · 4/4 answered94% Secular

You favor government neutrality between religious and nonreligious worldviews. You prefer public policy justified in terms that do not depend on accepting a particular faith. This measures religion’s public role, not personal faith. A deeply religious person can favor a secular state, and a nonreligious person can support religious customs in public institutions.

Your non-neutral answers consistently point toward secular in this sample. 0 answered statements were neutral. Consistency here does not establish certainty about policies the test did not ask about.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeGovernment policy should be justified without relying on the teachings of a particular religion.
  • Strongly disagreeA country’s religious heritage should have a visible role in its public institutions.
  • Strongly agreeThe state should give no special status to any religious organization.
  • DisagreeReligious teachings should help guide lawmakers on moral questions.
A question to work through

Should a state-funded school include a devotional practice from the country’s largest faith, even if participation is optional? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Borders & migrationMixed / balanced · 4/4 answered56% Open

Your aggregate score is near the midpoint. Read the answer pattern below to distinguish neutrality from a combination of different preferences. Refugee protection, work visas, family migration, and citizenship involve different questions. This axis is a broad summary and does not imply an opinion about any nationality, ethnicity, or individual migrant.

Your answers point in both directions: 2 toward open and 2 toward controlled, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • AgreeIt should be easier for people to move to another country to find work.
  • AgreeImmigration levels should be reduced when public services are struggling to keep up.
  • Strongly agreePeople who have lived and worked in a country for many years should have an accessible path to citizenship.
  • AgreeGovernments should be more selective about admitting new long-term residents.
A question to work through

If employers need workers but local housing is scarce, should a country expand work visas immediately or limit admissions until housing supply catches up? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Global cooperationLeans global · 4/4 answered75% Global

You favor international agreements and shared institutions for problems that cross borders. You are more willing to accept common rules even when they constrain a particular national preference. Sovereignty does not require isolation, and cooperation does not require a world government. The central question is how binding international commitments should be when national and shared priorities diverge.

Your non-neutral answers consistently point toward global in this sample. 1 answered statement was neutral. Consistency here does not establish certainty about policies the test did not ask about.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeCountries should accept binding international rules to address problems that cross borders.
  • DisagreeA national government should have the final say when international rules conflict with its priorities.
  • AgreeInternational courts should be able to hold governments accountable for treaty obligations.
  • NeutralCountries should avoid international agreements that significantly limit future domestic policy choices.
A question to work through

Should an international court’s ruling remain binding when an elected national government strongly disagrees with it? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Peace & securityLeans force · 4/4 answered38% Diplomacy

You put more weight on deterrence, military preparedness, and a willingness to use force. You are more concerned that restraint can leave threats unanswered or make commitments less credible. A diplomatic preference is not necessarily pacifism. A preference for military deterrence is not necessarily support for war. Context, evidence, and the expected cost of a particular action matter.

Your answers point in both directions: 1 toward diplomacy and 2 toward force, with 1 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • AgreeNegotiation should continue even with hostile governments when it could prevent military conflict.
  • Strongly agreeA credible willingness to use military force is essential to keeping peace.
  • NeutralReducing arms stockpiles through mutual agreements is usually worth some strategic risk.
  • AgreeGovernments should prioritize strong military capabilities even when doing so limits other spending.
A question to work through

When a rival violates an agreement, should your country prioritize renewed negotiations or increase its military presence to deter further violations? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

Environment & growthMixed / balanced · 4/4 answered50% Ecology

Your aggregate score is near the midpoint. Read the answer pattern below to distinguish neutrality from a combination of different preferences. Growth and environmental protection can reinforce each other. This axis deliberately focuses on cases where there is a tradeoff. It does not measure scientific knowledge or whether someone cares about nature.

Your answers point in both directions: 2 toward ecology and 2 toward growth, with 0 neutral. This is a reason to inspect the conditions in each statement. It is not, by itself, a contradiction.

Your actual answers

  • Strongly agreeProtecting ecosystems can justify slowing some forms of economic development.
  • AgreeKeeping energy affordable should take priority when environmental rules sharply raise household costs.
  • AgreeGovernments should require faster emissions reductions even when some industries face higher costs.
  • Strongly agreeEconomic growth should take priority when environmental restrictions put many jobs at immediate risk.
A question to work through

Would you support stronger pollution limits if they improved long-term environmental conditions but raised household energy prices for several years? What outcome would make you reconsider your first answer?

03 / IDEAS TO INVESTIGATE

A conversation with political traditions.

Six simplified editorial lenses, in a fixed order. Read the overlap and the gaps together. These are not fitted profiles, rankings, or membership claims.

Social democracy

A tradition that works through democratic institutions to combine market activity with social protection and a stronger position for labor.

Where your answers overlap

  • Economic equality: your answers lean toward equality.
  • Work & ownership: your answers lean toward collective.
  • Civil liberties: your answers lean toward liberty.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Public services: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward public.

Your views on specific welfare designs, fiscal constraints, and the institutions of a particular country are not established by this test.

Read about this tradition ↗

Classical liberalism

A family of views emphasizing individual liberty, limited coercion, and a substantial role for voluntary exchange.

Where your answers overlap

  • Civil liberties: your answers lean toward liberty.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Economic equality: you lean toward equality, while this simplified lens expects markets.
  • Public services: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward private.

The test cannot settle your theory of property, your preferred constitutional arrangements, or which public goods you would fund.

Read about this tradition ↗

Conservatism

A varied tradition that gives weight to inherited institutions, continuity, and caution about sweeping social redesign.

Where your answers overlap

  • Social change: your answers lean toward tradition.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Distribution of power: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward local.

Religious commitments, market policy, and the institutions being conserved vary greatly between conservative traditions.

Read about this tradition ↗

Libertarianism

A family of political theories emphasizing strong individual rights and limits on coercive interference.

Where your answers overlap

  • Civil liberties: your answers lean toward liberty.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Economic equality: you lean toward equality, while this simplified lens expects markets.
  • Work & ownership: you lean toward collective, while this simplified lens expects individual.
  • Public services: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward private.

Left-libertarian theories differ on ownership and resources. This deliberately narrower comparison does not represent every libertarian position.

Read about this tradition ↗

Egalitarianism

A family of views that gives moral weight to some form of equality, while disagreeing about what should be made equal and how.

Where your answers overlap

  • Economic equality: your answers lean toward equality.
  • Work & ownership: your answers lean toward collective.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Public services: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward public.

Equal rights, equal opportunity, and equal outcomes are different commitments. Your scores cannot choose a complete theory of justice for you.

Read about this tradition ↗

Cosmopolitanism

A family of views that treats people across national borders as part of a morally relevant community.

Where your answers overlap

  • Global cooperation: your answers lean toward global.

Where you differ or leave a question open

  • Borders & migration: your mixed result does not establish this lens’s expected leaning toward open.

Support for international institutions is not the same as a philosophical commitment to equal duties toward everyone. The latter is not directly measured.

Read about this tradition ↗
04 / YOUR REFLECTION WORKBOOK

Put your values into words.

Use the writing space in the PDF, or your own notes. Nothing you write needs to be submitted to this site.

PROMPT 01

Who pays, and who provides?

On redistribution, your answers lean toward greater economic equality; on essential services, your answers fall near the midpoint. These are related choices, but funding, ownership, and the right to access a service still need separate decisions.

For health care, decide separately: who funds it, who runs it, and what access everyone is guaranteed. Which part of your answer follows from each axis?

PROMPT 02

Freedom and economic responsibility

On civil liberties, your answers lean toward stronger civil liberties; on economic policy, your answers lean toward greater economic equality. This combines a preference for civil freedom with redistribution. Strong privacy or protest protections do not logically require a small welfare state.

Name one action government should take to improve economic opportunity, and one power it should never gain in doing so. What justifies that boundary?

PROMPT 03

Whose decision, at what level?

On democratic voice, your answers lean toward direct public participation; on the location of power, your answers fall near the midpoint. Direct voting can occur nationally, and elected representatives can govern locally. Your two results answer different institutional questions.

Imagine a town votes to block housing that a wider region needs. Who should decide, what rights constrain them, and how should people appeal?

PROMPT 04

Find the condition that changes your mind

Your economic equality, public services, democratic voice answers include leanings in both directions. Return to the quoted statements and underline words such as “usually,” “when,” or “even if.”

Write: “I generally favor ___, except when ___, because ___.” Name one real example of the exception and explain whether it changes a principle or only its application.

PROMPT 05

Separate principle from prediction

Two people can share a goal and disagree about whether a policy will achieve it. The test records your response, not whether an empirical prediction is correct.

Choose one strong answer. Write the value you are protecting, the factual prediction behind it, and the evidence that could change that prediction. Keep these three statements separate.

PROMPT 06

Give the strongest alternative a fair hearing

A useful comparison describes another position in terms its supporters would recognize. You do not have to adopt it.

Choose one philosophy with both overlap and distance in your comparison. Summarize its strongest objection to your preferred policy. Then identify one safeguard you could accept in response.

Start with your own perspective.

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