Forget poring over tedious policy papers: Someone has already come up with a quick way for you to find your place in the political spectrum.
In 1969, David Nolan -- a political scientist who had been frustrated by simplistic "left-right" labels -- devised a chart to help delineate the shades of difference in between;categories also include authoritarian, libertarian and centrist (see below). Nolan believedhis chartwas a more accurate way tomeasure a person's political philosophy becauseit was based on how much, or how little, governmental control a person favored in matters of economics and personal freedom.
His effort was enhanced 16 years ago when Marshall Fritz, founder of Advocates for Self-Government and currently head of an educational movement to keep politics out of public schools, added a short list of questions. The quiz and the chart became a computer game with results that could be automatically plotted. Fritz and others spent much time revising the questions to ensure accuracy, remove bias and override skepticism that the quiz was built to make people more aware of libertarian issues. He called it "The World's Smallest Political Quiz," and had it and scoring directions printed on small cards for easy distribution. To date, more than 7 million are in circulation.
The quiz has gained respect as a valid measure of a person's political leanings; last year, Rasmussen Research used the quiz in a poll about how likely voters viewed themselves.
To take the quiz online, go to www.self-gov.org.
