12AXES · LEARN
What is 12 axes? Meaning, topics and limits
12 axes is a political values questionnaire on 12axes.org. Learn what its twelve dimensions mean, how the two question banks work and how to interpret the profile.
Reviewed 2026-09-29 · 12axes.org editorial guide
What does the name mean?
An axis is a scale between two named poles. In this questionnaire, twelve scales summarise responses about twelve areas of public life. The number refers to dimensions, not twelve possible political types. A result combines all twelve scores; it does not place a person into one of twelve boxes.
What is this website?
12axes.org offers an original political values questionnaire in English, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Korean, French and German. Both the 60-question and 288-question versions are free and start directly on the homepage. English learning guides explain the framework and compare its topics with other tests. The site is an independent educational project, not an official branch of Political Compass, 9Axes, 8values or another named test.
What are the twelve dimensions?
Economy, Welfare, Civil liberties, Democracy, Social change, Global relations, Conflict, Migration, Environment, Religion & state, Technology and Governance. The axes overview defines both poles of each. The framework separates subjects that are often combined in broad political labels, while still leaving out many possible issues. It does not claim the dimensions have been proven statistically independent.
How is a result produced?
Each statement contributes to one axis. Positive and negative directions are balanced in the score calculation so that agreement alone does not automatically favour one pole. Scores run from 0 to 100 and each pair sums to 100. The published methodology and results guide explain the calculation. The software computes the result in your browser.
What should I expect from it?
Use the profile to reflect on trade-offs and find topics to explore. It is not a clinical assessment, a voting recommendation or a scientifically validated measure of political identity. No account is needed. Answers are saved in current-tab session storage, while analytics and ads load under the site’s privacy and cookie notices. Contact [email protected] for website questions.