As mentioned in this thread by Exapno Mapcase, the Pew Research Center has released a new Political Typology poll wherein they try to identify the political trends of the United States.
Well, I want to apply it to the Liberal bastion that is the dope and see where everybody around here fits. Take the quiz below (only 20 questions) and tell us all where you land. I am going to make the poll public, so be warned…
Was anybody else bothered by “Racial discrimination is the main reason why many black people can’t get ahead these days” vs. “Blacks who can’t get ahead in this country are mostly responsible for their own condition”? Strictly speaking, I don’t think either of these statements is true (or rather, both might be true for some individuals, but I think there are other, more complicated factors in play, and a lot of them have to do with class rather than race per se).
A lot of those questions were very poor, as they forced you to into a false dichotomy. I’m a Post-Modern by their standards but I doubt their standards mean much.
A lot of these statement pairs are not really true oppositions. For instance,
You could obviously have a position somewhere in between saying, “This country should ratify the Kyoto Protocol and meet global standards on the environment” or something like that. Or even “This country’s current environmental efforts are sufficient.”
Or this one:
How about “legal immigration strengthens our country etc., whereas illegal immigration is a big problem and has negative effects on our economy”?
I’d personally answer, “helping needy Americans is a priority, and more needs to be done, but not before we reduce the debt by cutting military spending.”
Apparently though I’m a Solid Liberal. So uh, thanks for telling me how I already identify myself politically, Mr. Test.
I’m disgusted that, in practice, you’re voting for two parties that tiptoe around 50%, that a third party president won’t happen, and you’re forced to take things you DON’T agree with to vote for a person with one or two things you DO agree with.
In general, the whole “choose the MOST correct” thing is a pisser. I found myself often choosing the “softer” statement "ie, I didn’t agree with what I choose, but I don’t toe the hard line taken by the other one either).
Yeah, but that’s always going to be the case unless you can get 51% of the electorate to agree with everything you believe, which isn’t going to happen. So its all about getting enough people to pull the lever for your guy by whatever means palatable.
Solid Liberal. But the questions are too few and too general to be even remotely accurate. For example, I have way too many weapons for most liberals to be comfortable with. I also think there are a number of foreign affairs problems that should be dealt with by nukes.
I didn’t think the quiz was put together very well. There were a number of questions where I felt both answers were ‘correct’ but neither was complete, so I had to choose the ‘least wrong’ of the two.
Hmm. I was wondering how much weight it gives to what you say you are at the end. So, I answered all of the questions as stereotypically Republican as possible (i.e., religion good, gays bad, immigrants bad, corporations good, environmental regulation bad, poor people bad, government regulation bad). Then I:
said I’m a broke young female who votes strong Democrat, and it said I’m a Hard-Pressed Democrat;
said I’m a rich old male who votes strong Republican, and I’m a Staunch Conservative.
Also, I couldn’t find a combo that would come up with Staunch Conservative if you select Strong Democrat, but I did find several combos that come up with Solid Liberal even when you select Strong Republican.
I actually think that it’s better than most yes/no polls in this regard, although it still has some doozies. This is the worst one, and it really stuck out to me. They’re far from mutually exclusive. The main reason fewer black people can get ahead is because of the poverty, which does have its roots in racism but racism does not play the main factor today any more. Correcting actual poverty would do more to help black people today than “correcting” a high percieved amount of racism.
Although it throws me in with the disaffecteds, I don’t fit a single one of their descriptions of said group. :dubious: Ok, maybe one, thinking that both business and government could be more efficient and effectual. Otherwise…hell no.
Same complaints as most everyone else. I don’t know that I necessarily disagree with being typed as a “solid liberal”, but I tended to disagree with both options most of the time. It would seem that political quizzes and nuance just don’t mix. Shocker ;).
