The local blogosphere (at least those who congregate at Manolo Quezon's blog) tend to cluster in the lower left quadrant of the Compass. Another pattern that can be detected, as traced by the red line of best fit below, is the farther one is to the left on the economic scale, the less authoritarian that person tends to be.
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Whether the above patterns are representative of the larger Philippine Society or a segment of it is, at this point, a matter of speculation.Update Nov-30-2007 12:56AM: Over at mlq3's, commenter inidoro ni emilie makes an interesting conjecture:
"i suspect that with more data points you can muster, your fit will turn out to be more downward parabolic than linear [q3 and q4]. which means, those in the first quadrant will turn out to be outliers–more exceptions to the rule."The only way to find out one way or the other is to get enough data points.
Update Nov-25-2007 12:32AM: I have adjusted the line of best fit above to conform to the results of the linear regression computations. Here's the slope, y-intercept and correlation coefficient and median values given the available data.
| slope, m= | 0.21 |
| y-intercept, b= | -2.01 |
| Correlation Coefficient, r= | 0.289 |
| Median, left/right | -3.62 |
| Median, top/down | -2.72 |
I will adjust as new data comes in.
Update Nov-24-2007 8:50PM: Below are the raw scores i used for the above graph.
Update Nov-25-2007 10:20PM: For purposes of comparison, here are the results of a similar exercise done for the New Zealand Blogosphere more than four and a half years ago.
| slope, m= | 0.234 |
| y-intercept, b= | -4.41 |
| Correlation Coefficient, r= | 0.553 |
| Median, left/right | -3.44 |
| Median, top/down | -4.82 |
The same inverse relationship between leftist convictions and authoritarian dispositions is found among the Kiwi bloggers of that time period.
Update Nov-26-2007 11:14PM: Here's another such ongoing survey from 2004 with 299 bloggers. My guess is that these are mostly American blogs.
| slope, m= | 0.377 |
| y-intercept, b= | -1.78 |
| Correlation Coefficient, r= | 0.566 |
| Median, left/right | 3.4 |
| Median, top/down | -0.5 |
As seen from the positive correlation coefficient, the observed relationship also holds for this batch.
50 comments:
looks nice. pls explain the method. if not, it's useless
Hi Brommel, the scatterplot is based on the scores of those who took the quiz at the Political Compass website.
The quiz plots a person's ideology across two dimensions. The vertical axis represents the top to bottom authoritarian vs. anarchist scale while the horizontal axis represents the left to right state intervention vs. let the market decide scale.
i'd love to see this post expand... am putting my own test results on my blog.
would it be possible for you to send the data to me?
Hi Jester, i have posted the raw scores above. Is this the additional info you need? I've also added your score to the results.
wow! can we keep this going? this is a very interesting survey of sorts!
Yes, i hope other bloggers will volunteer their scores.
cvj,
I've always associated communism with totalitarianism hence authoritarian. So I don't understand how those of us who don't buy anarchy or self regulating economics end up being less authoritarian.
Isn't it ironic that those who subscribe to economic freedom prefer to have the socio-political aspects of life regulated while those who want economics regulated prefer socio-political freedom?
Could it be because there is a false dichotomy here, separating our stomach from our minds?
MB, on your first observation, i can think of three possible, non-mutually exclusive explanations:
1. What we are seeing is because of the structure of the quiz.
2. Today's Left is different from that of the previous generation in that it has democratic aspirations.
3. Once the left takes power, the elimination of market mechanisms results in the emergence of the authoritarian/totalitarian order regardless of its leaders' democratic leanings. This, plus the tendency of incumbents to want to accumulate power results in the authoritarian tendencies seen in leftist political leaders once in power.
On your second and third paragraphs, it could be as you say. It could also reflect the loss of faith by free market advocates on democratic politics. There lately has been a trend for market fundamentalists (like Bryan Caplan) to favor the use of the market at the expense of democratic political action.
I don't usually post comments at MLQ3's blog since I find it hard to follow the long comment thread but I did follow everyone's suggestion and took the test:
Economic Left/Right: -8.00
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.69
Hi Karlo, thanks. I've added your results.
cvj,
I agree with you about the structure of the quiz. It really tends to measure something profound using bumper sticker slogans.
How would we describe us who fall in the lower left area of the political map?
Kasi parang we are people who trust ourselves to make the right decisions when it comes to socio-political matters and therefore should be left alone but at the same time we don't trust ourselves when it comes to making money and so should not be left on our own and should be regulated.
Parang there is an incongruencs.
Unless of course we believe we belong to the economic "outs" and we are victims of unregulated greed. Then it our location on the map would be consistent,
MB, yeah without knowing how they score, it's not possible to rule out the structure of the quiz as a factor. In any case, even if some of the questions are on the bumper sticker side, i still consider this a useful starting point.
My take on the quadrants is on how one feels about how effective the market or the people is as mechanisms for organizing and coordinating the activities of society.
My understanding is that those in the right side (whether top or bottom quadrant) believe in the market (i.e. price mechanisms) as an effective way of signalling and coordinating activities to a greater degree than those on the left. Although i'm on the left, i'm a believer in the market but i also believe in the possibility of market failure.
Those on the bottom side (whether left or right), believe in the ability of people to work together for the benefit of society. Those on the top side (whether left or right) see the need for a vanguard (whether individual or group) to direct the activities of society.
oh gawd. what a dork you are. and i mean that in the best sense. my vital stats (as per the political compass in facebook):
Economic Left/Right: -8.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.97
Hi Sparks, yeah that's me:-) Thanks for your info, i've added it to the results.
omg, i did this things years ago. am not sure where i landed. i guess i'd stick out as the lone conservative who's also a liberal. drat, i don't wanna be gang-raped here, so if you'll excuse me, i'll abstain. wait, my position won't even be in that darned graph
Hi Resty, yes i saw your blog entry from three years ago. You're welcome to volunteer your score whenever you feel like it.
Wow, Chuck!
Great post here... Nice to see the political compass test is picking up speed.
Btw Chuck,
Btw, Tongue and Sampot (who are also bloggers) posted their scores in Ellen's website. How about including them in your chart?
Thanks.
Hi Anna, thanks for getting the ball rolling.
Thanks CVJ.I think my score ,coincidentally,is similar to my idol,Nelson Mandela.
Anna, thanks for the pointer to Sampot and Tongue's scores. I have added them above.
Equalizer, it seems that most of us political bloggers so far are in the Mandela-Gandhi quadrant
Economic: -3.25
Social: -1.25
Not sure if the results are valid. I hate communists, however, the results are different from what I expected them to be.
Who made this Political compass? Did they make any statistical/scientific analysis? Is there a hidden agenda on this? Why most bloggers are slanted towards communist group?
Hi Pilipino, thanks i've added your results. For your questions (on slant, methodology & hidden agenda), you can refer to the quiz creators' FAQ on their website.
Pinoy,
Although, it may not be 100% accurate, I think it's not the methodology that is at fault here, but our own view of Communism. We always associate Communism with evil, atheism, USSR, brainwashing, etc. But...
Is it evil to provide equal opportunity?
Is not believing the Vatican Church's misrepresentation of Jesus Christ, atheism?
Was USSR a communist or authoritarian confederation?
Are we not brainwashed into believing that hunger is perfectly normal, and not the fault of Capitalism?
My dear friend, your result is accurate - deep in your heart, you're one of us, Reluctant Communists.
uhmm... bakit wala si mlq3?
Yeah, wala pa si Manolo. I hope he contributes his scores.
drat! i was aiming for V status but i guess somewhere deep inside me, i still value a lil bit of order. :C
huhuhu.
Where's Dean Jorge Bocobo? It's not fair to leave him out.
You're right. Will send DJB an invite.
Economic Left/Right: 1.73
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.03
Chuck,
Here's how I stand: Economic Left/Right: -6.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.79
Hi Antonio, Schumey, thanks very much. I've updated the above with your scores.
hi cvj! I don't quite belong to the brilliant crop of mlq3's regular commentators (hehe) but here are my results anyway:
Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.62
thanks!
Niki, thanks for your scores. I've updated the scatterplot above.
This looks like a very interesting project.
My results:
Economic Left/Right: 3.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.13
Joyfulchicken, thanks! I've posted your results.
Wow, Chuck!
Impressive list you've got here now.
I see, the list that reflects libertarian principles is long as opposed to the list of names whose scores are closer to the authoritarian plane and further away from libertarian. (Dodong's shows clearly which side of the equation he is on.)
I see myself, John Marzan, DJB, Ine, and Karl Garcia... Does that mean we are authoritarian prone?
Hi Anna, in terms of your position in the Compass relative to the rest, i would say that you, John, DJB, I.N.E. and Karl are more authoritarian (or less libertarian). I'm not sure though if we can interpret that to mean that you are more 'authoritarian-prone'.
From my limited understanding of the Quiz, it does not measure the rigidity or flexibilty of one's views. Who knows, if anyone of the libertarians acquire power, maybe they would suddenly jump up to the authoritarian quadrant.
My results: economic: -5.62, social: -0.21
:)
Economic Left/Right: -1.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 0.82
Economic Left/Right: -3.25
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -0.15
Hi Tiffany, Harrell, Bong, i have updated the above with your scores. Thanks!
Chuck, never knew you had this ongoing thing. But it's a good indication of bloggers' ideological leanings. Keep it up!
I wish more bloggers will do join us in this effort and send in their scores.
Come on, you communists! Include the islamophobes, too. hahaha!
Hi Tongue, thanks. I do hope more Philippine bloggers would volunteer their scores.
Someone over at mlq3's also suggested there should also be a Political Compass for Presidential candidates in 2010. I'm still trying to figure out how that can be done.
I just got my test(s) done, and here are the results:
Economic Left/Right: 2.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.26
I think I'm one of the very few in the lower right quadrant. Somewhere near being a neo-liberal libertarian. Sure is lonely in this quadrant from where I'm looking...
Dean Michael, thanks! I've added your scores above.
Thanks for recommending the quiz to me. I took it and like many bloggers, I belong to the left-libertarian quadrant.
Hi Lester, you're welcome. If you provide me your scores, i'll add it to the above.
Thanks cvj! That would be great. Pakidagdag na lang sana.
My political compass:
Economic Left/Right: -2.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian:
-2.21
Hi Lester, thanks. I have added your scores.
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