Maybe you've seen Political Compass Test. This is a way in which Political Scientists are able to map a person's political belief structure that more accurately represents reality rather than using the traditional "Left-Right" paradigm. It is a reaction to the increasingly irrelevent and often misused notion that people fit neatly onto a linear model based on the French Revolution's description of the political spectrum. As a student who holds a minor in Political Science, this is the model that was taught to me at the University of Michigan.
More After the Fold....
....It seems that The London Times has performed their own analysis of the state of the American presidential race. It doesn't paint a pretty picture of the major players in the race. According to them, the vast majority of candidate in 2008, due to their campaigns current positions on the issues (as answered in the test) are locked in a Right Wing Authoritarian mindset.
Before you go off the handle, I urge you to take the test yourself.
For example:
Here are how some of the major figures of the 20th century score
For the sake of disclosure, this is how I score
Finally, this is how the Political Compass people(using the methods described above) ranks the major candidates for president in 2008
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Now, in all fairness, there very well could be some problems with the their analysis. After taking the test myself there seems to be more than a few questions that come from a more personal angle. I haven't the foggiest how Obama or Clinton view spanking a child and, to my knowledge, neither candidate has made these views public. There is, however, a wealth of information available as to the major candidates views on economics, geo-strategic thought and their views vis-a-vis the military.
In order to insulate myself, consider the following: I'm the Messanger. I have yet to make up my mind who I will support in the 2008 primaries safe to say that it will be a Democrat.
My own thoughts are that the legacy of Goldwater/Reagan/Gingrich/bu$h is that the country and traditional media now views Left Wing politics through the Lense of Right Wing Authoritarianism. Edit What we in the US consider Left is Right leaning on the World Stage writ large
It's our task within the blogosphere to change that.
Thanks, and have a good day