I came out as Libertarian. That wasn’t surprising based on the ‘questions’. This is just a push poll technique though. The statements provided are just one-liners that people are likely to find an affinity with instead of more specific and pointed questions about issue. This pushes people into convenient pigeonholes for politicians and pollsters to take advantage of with a cookie-cutter political dialogue that argues side instead of ideas.
I read the questions literally, and so ended up choosing ‘Most corporations make a fair and reasonable amount of profit’ because it is only a minority of corporations that make outrageous profits. But many people would choose the other statement because they consider those corporations making outrageous profits to be a serious problem. I also selected both ‘Stricter environmental laws and regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy’ and ‘This country should do whatever it takes to protect the environment’, because I don’t think the cost to the economy and jobs is part of what it takes to protect the environment. So I don’t think this type of ‘test’ serves any genuine purpose in understanding people’s political motivations, rather the opposite, it constricts people’s individual consideration of political issues and strengthens partisanship.
I am apparently a “post-modern,” which basically puts me as a left-leaning independent. That’s about right, but I feel more left of center than that. Yeah, the questions sucked, but they invariably do in these sorts of quizzes (where I typically score as a libertarian.) I tried not to think about them too deeply and responded quickly from the gut.
Any quiz like this is going to force you into picking answers they don’t really agree with, and I think that there is still value in having people identify the “least wrong” answer or some such, but I must admit that this quiz made me grit my teeth before voting more often than most, which does seem like a problem.
Anyway, it pegs me as a post-modern, which I’m fine with.
I almost never agreed with any of the options and thought a third choice would be appropriate on most. The quiz put me as “Libertarian”, which I don’t self identify as and most likely doesn’t fit for me although I have some tendencies that way.
I have no idea WTF a Post-modern is. I was a Political Science (and English Lit) major,
although long ago. I have been keeping up with political developments since HS, and
I heve been playing the interent political chatroom game for several years now, and this
is the 1st time I have ever run across the term.
Agreed. I also am a “Post-modern,” but I had difficulty answering some of the questions because I didn’t agree with either choice. Some of the problem was the use of the word “most.” Change that to “some” and I would have clicked on that.
It’s on the results. Am I allowed to copy and paste something from that page? If not, forgive me, because here goes:
What They Believe
[ul]
[li]Generally supportive of government, though more conservative on race policies and the safety net[/li][li]Strongly supportive of regulation and environmental protection[/li][li]Most (56%) say Wall Street helps the economy more than it hurts[/li][li]Very liberal on social issues, including same-sex marriage[/li][li]One of the least religious groups: nearly a third are unaffiliated with any religious tradition[/li][li]Favor the use of diplomacy rather than force[/li][/ul]
Who They Are
[ul]
[li]The youngest of the typology groups: 32% under age 30[/li][li]A majority are non-Hispanic white and have at least some college experience[/li][li]Half live in either the Northeast or the West[/li][li]A majority (58%) live in the suburbs[/li][li]63% use social networking[/li][li]One-in-five regularly listen to NPR; 14% regularly watch The Daily Show[/li][/ul]
For all the hoo-ha over the questions, it classified me pretty accurately. I don’t fit the secular label (Catholic) but it says that it’s the most secular, not that it only contains secular minded people.
First, the questions were too cut-and-dry. Second, somewhere else on the web is another political survey (which goes into significantly more detail), and this survey posits that political leanings aren’t just graphed on a left/right horizontal contiuum, but also on an up/down vertical continuum (where up and down represent authoritarian vs. libertarian, respectively). And in THAT survey, the questions were too cut-and-dry as well.
I generally identify with the platform of the Libertarian party. But since no Libertarian stands any chance of getting elected in my lifetime, I generally vote Republican.
