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If a multi-dimensional political compass existed, how many dimensions would it have? What would be those dimensions? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by sbeak@sopuli.xyz to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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You have the "1D" political compass of left vs right, but those terms are so broad they can describe completely opposite viewpoints. Then there's the "2D" political compass with authoritarian/libertarian and the classic left/right, but that is still quite broad and doesn't fit every ideology and belief well. If someone were to create a fully fleshed out N-dimensional political compass that could ~~accurately summarise~~ generalise to a reasonable degree of accuracy* a person's political perspective, how many axes are needed, and what would they be?

Of the top of my head, I can think of a few:

authoritarian vs anti-authoritarian (on the extremes, you would have dictator bootlickers who support a one-rules-all style system and anarchists advocating for no authority at all)
internationalism vs nationalism
egalitarianism vs traditionalism (social equality vs hierarchal society)
environmentalist vs anti-environmentalist (every policy must consider environmental impacts vs cLiMaTe ChAnGe Is A hOaX)
progressive vs conservative (or pro-change vs anti-change)
intellectualism vs anti-intellectualism (pro-science vs anti-science)
free vs regulated economy (on the extremes, no government influence of the economy at all and a state-run economy)

Please don't treat this as an argument over why your politics are better! Debating politics is the worst kind of internet argument one can consume themselves into...

Also, please note that this post is not intended to attack anyone with the above viewpoints. Just want to make that clear.

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[–] hoagecko@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I found a study that may be helpful.
The project is called the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, which is being conducted by Gary Marks of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and others, and asks political experts in each country to evaluate the policy positions of major political parties in EU member states.

This survey interprets the multidimensional political conflict as stated in the question, and in the latest survey (Version 2025.1), it is measured by the following conflict terms:

Issue Options and Ties

Most Important Issue Options
1 = Anti-elite rhetoric
2 = Civil liberties
3 = Corruption
4 = Decentralization
5 = Deregulation
6 = Environment
7 = Ethnic minorities
8 = EU integration
9 = Immigration
10 = International security
11 = Multiculturalism
12 = Nationalism
13 = Public services vs taxes
14 = Redistribution
15 = Religious principles
16 = Social lifestyle
17 = State intervention
18 = Urban vs. rural
Ties
19 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Corruption
20 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and EU integration
21 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Immigration
22 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Nationalism
23 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Public services vs taxes
24 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Redistribution
25 = Tie: Civil liberties and Corruption
26 = Tie: Civil liberties and Multiculturalism
27 = Tie: Civil liberties and EU integration
28 = Tie: Corruption and Deregulation
29 = Tie: Corruption and Social lifestyle
30 = Tie: Decentralization and Nationalism
31 = Tie: Decentralization and State intervention
32 = Tie: Deregulation and Nationalism
33 = Tie: Deregulation and Public services vs taxes
34 = Tie: Deregulation and Redistribution
35 = Tie: Deregulation and State intervention
36 = Tie: Ethnic minorities and Social lifestyle
37 = Tie: EU integration and Redistribution
38 = Tie: EU integration and Social lifestyle
39 = Tie: Immigration and International security
40 = Tie: Multiculturalism and Nationalism
41 = Tie: Public services vs taxes and Redistribution
42 = Tie: Public services vs taxes and State intervention
43 = Tie: Redistribution and Social lifestyle
44 = Tie: Redistribution and State intervention
45 = Tie: Social lifestyle and State intervention
46 = Tie: Social lifestyle and Urban vs rural
47 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Deregulation and Ethnic minorities
48 = Tie: Anti-elite rhetoric and Environment and International security
49 = Tie: Decentralization and Public services vs taxes and Redistribution
50 = Tie: Deregulation and Ethnic minorities and State intervention
51 = Tie: EU integration and Social lifestyle and State intervention
52 = Tie: Civil liberties and Multiculturalism and Public services vs taxes and Redistribution
53 = Tie: Decentralization and Ethnic minorities
54 = Tie: EU integration and Nationalism
55 = Tie: Deregulation and Multiculturalism and State Intervention
56 = Tie: Immigration and Social Lifestyle

Source: Codebook *PDF

Reference

Official

Project website

The 2024 Chapel Hill Expert Survey on political party positioning in Europe: Twenty-five years of party positional data - ScienceDirect

Unofficial

Introduction to the Chapel Hill Expert Survey – Blog d'Emilien Houard-Vial

経済・社会文化・グローバリゼーションー2020年の各国政党政治ー｜NIRA総合研究開発機構 (Article in Japanese)