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Political ideologies: a guide to reading your 12 axes profile
Explore broad political traditions through combinations of 12 axes topics. Use this ideology guide for further reading, not as an automatic label or party match.
Reviewed 2026-09-29 · 12axes.org editorial guide
A profile does not determine an ideology
Political traditions contain disagreements, and the same label can have different meanings across countries and periods. The connections below are editorial reading suggestions based on the topics named by each tradition. They are not empirical reference profiles, numerical thresholds or a nearest-neighbour classifier. A political ideology test can prompt reflection, but these scores alone do not establish your beliefs.
Liberalism
Start with Civil liberties and Democracy to consider individual rights and the exercise of public power. Economy and Welfare help explore disagreements within liberal traditions about markets and public provision. A high liberty score alone does not settle which version of liberalism, if any, describes you.
Social democracy
Read Economy and Welfare together, then consider Democracy. This combination raises questions about redistribution, social provision and participation. Supporting public services does not by itself distinguish social democracy from other traditions that also defend a social safety net.
Conservatism
Social change is a useful starting point for thinking about continuity, inherited institutions and reform. Add Democracy and Global relations to explore institutional authority and sovereignty. Conservatism includes different economic and religious outlooks; tradition alone does not determine either.
Libertarian traditions
Civil liberties and Governance invite questions about limits on power and its distribution. Economy distinguishes some disagreements about property, markets and equality. The term libertarian has been used in differing traditions, so do not assume that one economic score captures all of them.
Socialism
Economy and Welfare raise questions about inequality, provision and the organisation of economic life. Democracy and Governance help distinguish views about participation and concentrated power. These axes do not directly measure every form of ownership or political strategy, so an equality score is insufficient to identify socialism.
Green politics
Environment is a starting point for ecological trade-offs. Technology and Governance add questions about innovation and the scale of decision-making. Ecological concern can coexist with many positions on redistribution, migration and institutional design.
Nationalism and internationalism
Global relations explores cooperation and sovereignty. Migration and Conflict add distinct questions about movement across borders and the use of force. National independence does not logically require restrictive migration policy or military intervention; examine those scores separately.
How to use this list
Choose a tradition to read about and identify which concrete policy positions you share or reject. Look at the relevant axes below, review the underlying answers, and remember that this site does not endorse a party or recommend how you should vote. The links show relationships between topics rather than a diagnosis of your political identity.