Helps neighbors abroad, keeps traditions at home
Each letter of the type code stands for the pole this type leans toward · neither pole is better than the other
Type distribution
1.29%As of August 5, 2026
These four axes build on well-established frameworks in political scienceHow we measure
The descriptions below are addressed to someone with this type.
Values even distribution, equality, and redistribution by the state
Everyone doing well together matters to you. You care not only about what markets produce but also about whether the gains are spread evenly, and you believe the state should give solid support to people who are struggling. You hope for a society whose shared safety net is wide enough that no one is left behind.
Values international cooperation, openness, and global solidarity
You see opportunity in cooperation and exchange across borders. You believe problems like climate change and migration are too big for any one country to solve alone and must be worked out together, and you stay open to other cultures and backgrounds. You hope for a world that grows more open and more connected.
Values individual freedom, rights, and checks on state power
You see individual freedom and rights as a line the state must not cross. You believe free expression, freedom of assembly, and private life must be protected, and that power must always be watched and held in check. You hope for a society where diversity and personal autonomy have room to breathe.
Values tradition, stability, and proven customs
You give weight to values and customs that have stood the test of time. You prefer a gradual, steady path to abrupt change, and you cherish your community's traditions and pride. You hope for a society that moves forward at a measured pace while holding on to what has proven its worth.
A fun look at real historical figures mapped onto the four axes — not an academic classification
Late in life he questioned the private ownership of land and sought to share his wealth with peasants, championed borderless nonviolent pacifism and conscientious objectors, and resisted censorship and state coercion — while finding his answers in faith and the humble traditions of village life.
Photo: Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii, 1908 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
He worked for cooperatives and rural renewal for poor farmers, preached a cosmopolitanism beyond narrow nationalism, renounced his knighthood in protest of a colonial massacre — and built schools rooted in India's traditions and spirituality.
Photo: Unknown author, c. 1941 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
A society with a solid safety net under the vulnerable, a helping hand extended even to people in trouble in far-off countries, and no one quick to judge how anyone else chooses to live. And at the same time, a society where long-cherished things — the way holidays are kept, customs handed down — don't simply vanish.
Underneath these hopes is a sense that a kinder society grows from its roots. So this stance trusts change that widens the circle while keeping what holds it together, more than change that overturns everything at once. But a hard question always follows: when what you want to widen and what you want to keep collide in the same place, what do you change and what do you leave standing?
Progressive on 3 of the four axes, conservative on 1 — each axis can lean its own way.
The progressive–conservative label is a rough guide based on how this test defines its axes.
