Welcome! It’s timely to stress that The Political Compass has been on the internet since 2001. The uniqueness of our take on politics is reflected in the gratifyingly enthusiastic reviews we’ve enjoyed in the national media of many countries from our earliest years — as well as from many teachers and academics who continue to use our work.
Read more about our work here.
You might not have heard of the Heritage Foundation, an ultra-right US think tank that has evolved into a policy arm of the Republican Party, influencing its shift to more hardline conservative positions in recent decades. Its Index on Economic Freedom, an annual appraisal of 184 national economies, applauds those that are most friendly to business, especially concerning tax codes. In other words, the most right-wing economies …
Robert Dunham, Executive Director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington DC, discusses with Wayne Brittenden the ethical and legal situation of capital punishment globally — but particularly in the US, which is the only western democracy that — at least in 29 states — can still execute its citizens.
A little-known history that needs to be told, and the US National Public Radio does a fine job.
As the Sufi poet philosopher Omar Khayyam put it: When I want to understand what is happening today or try to decide what will happen tomorrow, I look back.
The Population Bomb was a bombshell best-seller when it was unleashed in 1968. Author Paul Ehrlich, a renowned biologist, warned of the consequences of unchecked population growth and introduced the term Zero Population Growth (ZPG).
The population then was less than half of today’s figure, yet the issue is barely mentioned now in the media and public discourse. Despite our greater awareness of climate change, peak oil and other related hazards, why did population slip off the radar?
Our growing list of relatively timeless interviews
We’ve all experienced it! The mental conflict that comes when new information threatens your beliefs, assumptions or actions.
Professor Daniel Meegan of Guelph University, Ontario, Canada, explains the defensive mind manoeuvres that we’re likely to make when such mental conflicts occur. In our present age of troubling uncertainties and existential crises, cognitive dissonance is also common among politicians.
Is it necessary for our sanity, or a potentially dangerous cop-out? Professor Meegan takes an unblinkered look at how we phase out unwelcome information.
All you need to know about the making and meaning of national songs! Erik Levi, Professor of Music at Royal Holloway, University of London, talks about the musical devices that stir emotions in patriotic songs and takes a critical look at some interesting examples.
Four years ago, I traveled around America, visiting historical archives. I was looking for documents that might reveal the hidden history of climate change — and in particular, when the major coal, oil and gas companies became aware of the problem, and what they knew about it …
