American Politics

Patrick Kern

Professor Goergen

Portfolio Assignment #3

According to the Political Compass Test I am slightly towards the left and Libertarian. I was close to names like Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. I have to say that I wasn't really surprised by the results because I always felt like I was more of a spiritual person as opposed to the more religious or military personalities. It is also no surprise that I fall closer to the center as opposed to some of the more extreme views and characters from the chart. I think the questions asked in the test were pretty penetrating and thought provoking.

The test itself asked a wave of questions, sometimes the same question in a different way in order to gauge one's personal views and beliefs. You have a right and a left side, and you have authoritarian views on top with libertarian views on the bottom. When you complete the survey, you are pinpointed onto the chart. The chart has also pinpointed various prominent political, religious, and spiritual leaders from the past and present so you can clearly see whose beliefs match up with yours, and whose don't. Leaders from the current include Barrack Obama and Mitt Romney, who surprisingly are very close together according to the chart. Leaders from the past range from Hitler and Stalin to Gandhi and Mandela.

According to my textbook AM GOV, ideologies are defined as ideas, values, and beliefs about how governments should operate. The book states that a liberal democracy is the ideology that "guided the American Experience." Knowing that, I would say that my personal ideas and philosophies fit in well with the overall American political path. Both Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi, both of whom I was close to on the political compass are spoken of positively amongst most Americans.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/index