What is the political compass?
The nutshell
The political compass is a way to sort political views. It uses two lines that cross to make a grid, not just one line running from left to right.
Every fact on this page comes from neutral encyclopedias and the sites that describe the model. Each source tag — like EB — opens where a fact comes from.
The basics
One line, or two?
For a long time, politics has been drawn as a single line from left to right. The left end usually means more equality and more state action. The right end usually means more tradition and freer markets. This line dates back to the French Revolution, when members who wanted change sat on the left and those who backed the king sat on the right.EB
Adding a second line
A single line has a problem. It mixes together two different questions — how a country runs its money, and how much control a state has over daily life. The political compass splits these apart. It keeps the left-right line for the economy, then adds a second line, up and down, for social views.TDL
The four corners
On the best-known version, The Political Compass website, the across line runs from left to right for the economy. The up-and-down line runs from authoritarian (more state control over daily life) at the top to libertarian (more personal freedom) at the bottom. Where the two lines cross makes four corners, such as left and libertarian, or right and authoritarian.PC
What it is good for
A grid can show that two people who agree about tax still disagree about personal freedom. The Decision Lab says a single left-right line has been criticised as too simple, because it mainly measures money and not social views.TDLEven so, the compass is still a simple model, and two people in the same corner can disagree about a great deal.
- Two crossing lines can show that money views and social views are separate ideas, not one and the same
- Four corners give more labels than just left or right, so views that do not fit the old line still have a place
- The Decision Lab says a single left-right line can be too simple, because it mainly measures money and not social freedom
- A grid is still a simple model, and two people in the same corner can disagree about a great deal
- An online compass result comes from a short set of questions, so it is a rough guide, not a fixed fact
- Different compasses word the two lines in different ways, so the same answers can land in different spots on different tests
The deep end6 min
How the grid is built
The political compass takes the old left-right line and treats it as only one measure — the economy, from more state control to freer markets. It then adds a second line at a right angle, running from authoritarian at the top to libertarian at the bottom. The Political Compass website plots these as a flat grid, so any view can sit in one of four quadrants, such as authoritarian left or libertarian right.PC
Why a second line was added
Britannica notes that a political spectrum can use one or more lines, and that some models add a second line to measure how authoritarian a view is.EB The Decision Lab makes the same point in plainer terms — a left-right line mainly captures economic views, so two people with the same economic position can still differ sharply on social questions.TDL
An idea older than the website
The two-line map did not begin online. In 1971 the American activist David Nolan set out a chart that plotted economic freedom against personal freedom, one of several early attempts to map politics in two directions rather than one.Wiki The Political Compass website, which appeared decades later, is the version most people meet today.PC
What the compass cannot settle
A compass only describes where views sit. It does not say which corner is right or best, and it does not tell anyone how to vote. The labels are not fixed either. Different compasses word the two lines in different ways, so the same answers can place a person in different spots on different tests.