Introduction

The Political Compass meme uses a two-axis model to humorously explore political opinions, categorizing them along libertarian/authoritarian and economic left/right lines.

Background

The Political Compass is a model that visualizes political alignment on two axes: libertarian/authoritarian and economic left/right. Similar to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, it features websites where users can take surveys to determine their political stance. This model has inspired numerous parody edits.

How It Began

The concept of the 'political compass' has been legally protected by Pace News Limited since 2001, with the graph being developed by Politicalcompass.org. It displays economic positions on the horizontal axis and authority-related positions on the vertical axis, resulting in four quadrants: Authoritarian Right, Authoritarian Left, Libertarian Right, and Libertarian Left.

Meme Evolution

Since 2004, the Political Compass website has analyzed elections in English-speaking countries. Despite criticism over its methodology, the model remains popular. The format has been adapted into many parody edits, which began gaining traction around August 29th, 2012, with a post on Warosu.org. By March 2016, these parodies became increasingly frequent, often incorporating pop culture references similar to Alignment Charts. Notable variations include those based on Spongebob Squarepants and The Simpsons. A Facebook page dedicated to Political Compass Memes was launched on June 15th, 2016, amassing over 6,000 likes by September 19th, 2016.