Political outlook
Your broad political orientation score is -9.1%, which equates to a ‘Centre’ position

Economic policy
Your economic policy score score is 56.9%. This equates to a ‘Right’ position

Social policy
Your social policy score is 9.8%. This equates to a ‘Centre’ position

Traditional values
Your traditional values score is -85.2%. This equates to a ‘Far Left’ position

A unidimensional scale is probably less interesting than the two-dimensional scale I’ve seen elsewhere (economic liberalness and social liberalness). I’ve done similar quizzes before (probably the US one) and came out fairly similarly, but my responses change – tomorrow I might respond differently! A few months ago on the US test I had negative scores on all three scales.

I’m not going to trawl through Mark’s many posts to establish what I have long sensed to be his statist beliefs, so I’ll withdraw my assessment until I’ve got time for his gotcha game.

What I found interesting however are his scores on economic and social policy that according to Brian Palmer’s explanations are highly suggestive of a statist mindset. Maybe he agreed with only those propositions in those areas that weren’t indicative of statist thinking. But as I said it’s unscientific and just a bit of fun.

“Your economic policy score reports the extent to which you think the state should be regulating the economic aspects of our lives. A negative score means you believe the state should, on more issues than not, intervene in the economic lives of its citizens. A positive score means you believe the state should be less interventionist.

Your social policy score reports the extent to which you think the state should be providing services for its citizens and protecting its citizens from making decisions that could be harmful (in social policy areas other than those covered by the traditional values score below). A negative score means you believe the state should, on more issues than not, intervene in the social lives of its citizens as a force for good. A positive score means you believe we are responsible enough to provide for ourselves and run our own lives free from excessive government intervention.”

the statist positions so loudly advocated by the Bahnischs

Such as?

Find me some, and I’ll link to the many posts I’ve written arguing for less statist social policy and more emphasis on liberty from social democrats.

I’ve been consistent on this.

I don’t think Nick could be characterised as a statist either.

And I think you’re also forgetting John Hewson.

Fair cop, but he’s pretty forgettable!

Isn’t it now non-existent or practically non-existent? Perhaps we could replace it with the LDP for our libertarian friends? Or just add LDP to the list.

The test is not meant to be taken too seriously (though its the best one I’ve found) and is supposedly based on the parties policies.

The problem with this metric is that it measures economic views in three different ways, but social views once. I would have thought that political, economic policy and social policy scores would be highly positively correlated.

Regrettably I have to agree with Mark’s assessment that “The thing is though that libertarians traditionally are a very small current in what is a very statist political culture on both sides of the aisle in Australia.” While I’m obviously not a libertarian I find libertarian philosophies far more agreeable than the statist positions so loudly advocated by the Bahnischs, Gruens and Quiggans of this world.

Amanda I’m going to miss your tempering influence on the conservatives. Woe!

Economic Policy – Centre Right 42.1%

Social Policy – Centre Right 27.4%

Trad Values – Left -58.9%

As Ken says, the party matches aren’t working. Mine is right, but his software is correctly predicting less than half.

Sorry if I sound a little bitter but that’s how I see it with that lot in unsunny Melbourne.

There is a big difference at the grass roots level though, particularly within the state I reside. The libs have a sizable margin of supporters that could easily fit into the libertarian, easy social policy Friedman economics wing if there ever was one. There is some serious grumbling at the grass roots with the big spending attitude and the way one particular clown has taken hold of the party operational structure. You saw a little of this with the rise of Prodos and then the party structure indecently killing his candidacy in an electorate that was as close to the safest labor seat in the state that the Libs had never contested before. Kroger and his henchmen took out his candidacy, which is something I will never forgive them for until Kroger and his cabal is banished.

I would hazard to bet that 10-15% of the party grass roots has libertarian leanings. Believe me it is there, really upset and restless.