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.

  • hoagecko (he/his)@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    1·
    3 hours 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)