Political spectrum

A political spectrum is a system which attempts to classify political positions upon one or more dimensions.

Left-right spectrum

The most well-known political spectrum is the left-right spectrum. However, how to define this is controversial and often debated.

See also Alt-Right, Far Left, Far Right, Left-wing politics, and Right-wing politics.

Mental illness

Increasingly extreme left-wing views have been associated with increasingly higher risks of having various forms of mental illness.

Amygdala

Various studies have stated that conservatives/rightists are more sensitive to "fear"/"anxiety" than liberals/leftists. This has been argued to reflect biological differences, such as brain differences regarding the amygdala between rightists and leftists. This may mean that leftists tend to display disastrous recklessness and unrealistic blind optimism, and to support often catastrophic "utopian" projects (such as Communism, Cultural Marxism, mass immigration, and so on).

"Liberal descriptions of the amygdala invariably describe it as ancient or primitive. They don’t come right out and say it but the suggestion is that the amygdala is sort of like the human appendix which occasionally becomes inflamed and results in appendicitis. It’s a holdover, a vestigial brain function which we modern, civilized people would be better off without [...] In fact, the amygdala mediates memory, facilitates emotional learning and apparently helps people identify the emotional states of others.There is even research suggesting amygdala size correlates with the size of a person’s social network,i.e. how many friends you have. But what’s really missing from Mooney’s description is any sense that the amygdala is an important part of the human personality, one we definitely don’t want to live without. [...] Monkeys who’ve had lesions to their amygdala will play with snakes. Like psychopaths, their fearlessness means they may put themselves in real danger. In the case of humans, indiscriminate openness to new experiences might include a willingness to experiment with crystal meth or heroine or crack. Unlike trying new foods, there’s real (as opposed to imagined) danger involved with doing these things. And, again, the extreme left end of the “openness” continuum may be a person who acts completely without fear of consequences to himself or others, i.e. a psychopath."

It is unclear if "utopian" "rightists" such as anarcho-capitalists are similar to liberals or to conservatives on such biological measures.

Stated awareness of group differences

"Prof. Jussim finds that liberals are especially likely to disbelieve in group differences: [T]hose most likely to inaccurately underestimate real differences were liberals in denial about group differences. . . [I]ntelligence did not matter for this group. Brainy liberals were just as likely as dumb liberals to inaccurately minimize real differences. It’s the opposite for non-liberals. The smarter they are, the more likely they are to have an accurate understanding of group differences. This makes sense, since smart people are usually more knowledgeable about the world. Prof. Jussim wonders whether smart liberals have actually managed to block reality or whether they know the truth but refuse to admit it."

See also stereotypes.

Masculinity and femininity

Studies have found that physically strong men and men who spend more time in the gym are more likely to have right-wing views.

Another study found that "Female politicians with stereotypically feminine facial features are more likely to be Republican than Democrat, and the correlation increases the more conservative the lawmaker's voting record".

r-K strategy

The left-right spectrum has also been argued to reflect differences regarding r-K strategy (see differential K theory), with conservatives being more K.

See also Differential K theory: Anxiety and suicide on more K being associated with more anxiety, possibly related to above differences regarding amygdala and anxiety.

Classification of fascism and National Socialism

The classifications of fascism and National Socialism have been controversial. The common classification as Far Right (or even as just as Right) has been criticized by, for example, some libertarians, who see this classification as attempted guilt by association and state many differences with argued "correct" Right positions. A Leftist classification may be argued.

Proponents of liberal democracy have created classification systems based on "authoritarianism" (or similar concepts), which classify fascism and Communism as being similar. A related discussion is if National Socialist Germany was "totalitarian" as discussed in the Totalitarianism article.

Many proponents have argued for a Third Position.

Horseshoe and True Believer theories

See Horseshoe theory and True Believer.

Multi-dimensional

A popular system is the "Nolan Chart", which uses two dimensions, argued to represent degrees of "economic freedom" and "personal freedom". It has been criticized as biased in favor of libertarianism and was created by, and is promoted by, libertarians.

A study mathematically analyzing positions of German voters found that at least 4 dimensions were required to adequately represent all political parties.

Ethnic homogeneity/heterogeneity

Politics have been argued to differ between ethnically homogeneous and ethnically heterogeneous societies. Singapore's leader Lee Kuan Yew, accused of supporting an authoritarian form of government, stated in a 2005 interview: "Why should I be against democracy? The British came here, never gave me democracy, except when they were about to leave. But I cannot run my system based on their rules. I have to amend it to fit my people's position. In multiracial societies, you don't vote in accordance with your economic interests and social interests, you vote in accordance with race and religion. Supposing I'd run their system here, Malays would vote for Muslims, Indians would vote for Indians, Chinese would vote for Chinese. I would have a constant clash in my Parliament which cannot be resolved because the Chinese majority would always overrule them."

Likely related to the mass immigration and changing White demographics, White working class voters are deserting leftist parties across the Western world.

John Stuart Mill: "Free institutions are next to impossible in a country made up of different nationalities.” This because when a society is composed of “a people without fellow-feeling . . . the united public opinion necessary to the working of representative government cannot exist."

Increasing polarization

See Great Awokening

Two-party systems and polarization

Two-party systems, such as in the United States, are often claimed, as a main advantage, to be more stable than multi-party systems. However, this may depend on factors such there being low polarization and high social trust in the country, with a two-party system possibly risking increasing the polarization in a polarized society even further. A 2016 study on insurgencies and civil wars in ethnically heterogeneous Latin America (with high ethnic heterogeneity tending to increase polarization and decrease social trust) stated that "two-party systems may polarize and lead to intense insurgency because they simplify the process of blame attribution, encourage the incumbent party to exclude its opponent from power positions, and motivate leaders to emphasize extreme ideological positions."

Hispanics as "natural conservatives"

Some conservatives believe that Hispanics are "natural conservatives", but actual evidence is argued to contradict this. See the Hispanics article and in particular the external links there.

IQ and democracy

Another issue is related to IQ and aspects such as the ability to understand and participate in political debates.

The 2009 book Limits to democratization stated that "all nations do not have equal chances to establish and maintain democratic systems. A central conclusion is that it is probably never possible to achieve the same level and quality of democracy in all countries of the world". See also the article on Countries and intelligence.

Islamization and Islamo-leftism

Regarding Islam, it has been argued that "The Koran is said to be the literal, infallible word of God, so all good Muslims are fundamentalists in the Christian sense. Islam sees no distinction between government and religion, and seeks to regulate every aspect of life." Thus, implementing an Islamist state may be considered a political ideology. See also Islamization and anti-Islamization.

Related is Islamo-leftism, a term for temporary alliances between Islamists and (far) leftists.

First Worldism vs Third Worldism

There are many important differences between the "First World" and the "Third World" (the "Second World" was the Communist countries). Such differences include differences regarding political views and policies. Thus, this can also be seen as a political dimension.

These differences have been argued to be influenced by genetic population differences. Therefore, supporters of mass immigration from the Third World to the First World have been seen as in effect being supporters of that the First World should become like the Third World.

See also

• Political radicalism

External links

• Don't Fear the Amygdala, Progressives
• First Worldism
• There Is No Left Wing Anymore
• Bike-Sharing Leads Directly To Complete Societal Collapse