Four Americas: Introducing the U.S. Political Compass
Understanding Populism on the Left and Right
Overview of the Framework
Adapted for the United States, the political compass depicts the four largest official parties and changes the colors to those familiar in U.S. politics. In order of size, the parties are Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, and Green. Combining the largest with the smallest of the four has led to a fairly evenly matched political divide in national elections, with the individualist parties as a coalition versus the collectivist parties as a coalition.
Predecessors of this model include the Nolan chart and an international-oriented political compass (see video explanation). The U.S. political compass follows the earlier charts by using a vertical axis as a social scale and a horizontal axis as an economic scale. While the earlier political compass has gained much popularity, to be immediately understood by a U.S. general audience, it will likely benefit from a re-branding and reconceptualization. The U.S. political compass is a simplistic representation of political coalitions, but it adds an increasingly important dimension, absent from the more simplistic left-to-right divide. The one-dimensional spectrum conflates issues, which obscures essential political realities. The main assertion of this article is that recent polling research shows consistency with this framework, and arguably validates the use of the quadrants model.
A Pew Research Center Survey Shows Populism as Part of a Complex Political Landscape
A Pew Research Center survey of the U.S. general public, in 2021, showed nine clusters that were as divided within the Democrat and Republican parties as they were between them. A statistical method called factor analysis was used to identify groups of respondents who answered similarly to each other. In other words, the responses from each cluster tended to “hang together.” While the researchers did important and careful work, the clusters did not line up tidily along the standard left-to-right political spectrum. One writer interpreted the Pew study as follows:
Despite surveys having found broad support for a third party outside the two major ones, the study shows that there's no magic middle. In fact, the study finds that the three groups with the most self-identified independents "have very little in common politically." (Montanaro, 2021, para. 5)
The Pew researchers assigned each group a placement along the familiar right-to-left spectrum. However, a two-axis model offers a better way to understand the groupings. The Pew Research Center (2021) described the characteristics of nine clusters referred to as types. Below, eight of the types are mapped into quadrants of the U.S. political compass with a summary of the characteristics from the poll dataset. The ninth type, which the Pew researchers named stressed sideliners, are the most apolitical. I’ve left them off the quadrants, but they are still included in the discussion.
Pew Political Groups Placed in the U.S. Political Compass
Validation of Pew Category Placements
The following sections explain why it makes sense to place Pew’s categories in quadrants, rather than along a single spectrum as in the Pew report. The discussion includes political compass memes (PCMs) based on the international political compass, which uses the terms auth-left and auth-right for the “authoritarian” pro-establishment, and the terms lib-left and lib-right for the anti-establishment or counterculture.
Pew Types Belonging in the Lower-right Quadrant (lib-right)
This PCM of male heads and this PCM of icons are examples of the majority of PCM enthusiasts who depict the lib-right quadrant (yellow) as emphasizing economic self-interest. The male-heads PCM does not fit a rural working-class Libertarian Party image, which is often highly patriotic (i.e., Pew’s populist right). Yet it does fit an urban Libertarian image (i.e., Pew’s ambivalent right, which leans liberal on some social issues). San Francisco is a good geographic representative for the lib-right quadrant as presented in the above-linked PCMs. Think tech start-ups and young altcoin enthusiasts. Within the San Francisco Bay area are plenty of financially driven educated establishment liberals (more politically active) along with the sometimes-self-educated ambivalent right (less politically active). The ambivalent right with high income are likely highly represented among those who recently left California in droves, to the socially liberal Austin within the tax haven of Texas.
Pew Types Belonging in the Upper-Right Quadrant (auth-right)
The PCMs linked to in the previous paragraph place both religion and patriotism in the auth-right quadrant. This aligns with my placement of Pew's faith and flag conservatives within the quadrant representing the Republican Party.
The committed conservatives are similarly patriotic and hawkish, but less religious, or at least less devout. Because they are committed to a strong national military, they are pro-establishment in that regard, even if many of them would prefer to diminish the social welfare programs of the government. These could be labeled corporate globalist hawks.
Pew Types Belonging in the Upper-Left Quadrant (auth-left)
Pew’s Democratic mainstays belong in this quadrant, as moderate but reliable dem voters. The Democratic mainstays are the largest voting block (28%), and together with Establishment liberals (23%) make up 51% of the survey respondents. Democratic mainstays anchor the democratic party, and in that respect best represent the pro-establishment left. Of the left-leaning Pew types, they are the most content with the U.S. status quo. They are closer in ideology (on immigration, crime, and military) to the moderate Republicans who are part of Pew’s committed conservatives. Both these moderate groups are solidly pro-establishment. In view of the horseshoe theory, these two less politically strident democrats and more moderate republicans belong next to each other.
An alternative placement with Pew’s establishment left on top would also make sense. Their higher educational attainment puts them in the category of elites who are more in positions of decision-making power within the Democrat party. In the top-most position, the more politically active establishment left would be juxtaposed with the right wing’s more politically active educated elite, which are within the committed conservatives. However, the establishment left are more interested in change than the Democratic mainstays are. In that respect they are not as tied to the existing status quo. I take establishment to mean inhabiting institutions, more than indicating their socially conservative interest in gradual change thru institutional means. They are more willing to compromise than the democratic mainstays are, and because of that, permitted the ideology of the progressive left to gain sway in policy. On the horseshoe spectrum, they are more comfortable with change, so they belong closer to the progressive left who demand change.
Pew Types Belonging in the Lower-Left Quadrant (lib-left)
In the PCM of male heads, both images on the left are identified as collectivist by the hammer and sickle symbol. In general, PCMs depict the auth-left as communist-leaning authoritarians, which in the U.S. context indicates preference for a large and generous government accountable to democratic vote. In contrast, tropes about the lib-left include commune-dwelling hippies and the more modern hipster subculture.
From an international perspective, Pew's progressive left (12%) might seem to align with the authoritarian-communist ideology (auth-left). However, in North America, Marxist sympathies are found almost exclusively within countercultural movements. Marxism is often discussed academically, and it is the young and highly educated progressive left that serves as its main proponent. This group advocates for immediate, institutionally mandated social liberalization and economic equity.
Although autocratic communism has historical ties to Marxist ideology, it's incorrect to place U.S. Marxists in the authoritarian quadrant of the political compass. The Democratic Party is part of the pro-establishment duopoly supported by corporate donors, and few wealthy or powerful Democrats would go as far as to promote European-style democratic socialism. Given the McCarthyism that thoroughly drove communist sympathies underground, in the American context, the progressive left's embrace of figures like Senators Sanders and Warren is an anti-establishment populist stance. The fact that the Democratic Party rejected Sanders as a nominee, despite his popularity, highlights this divide. The educational credentials of the progressive left keep them tied to the establishment left, placing them closer to the pro-establishment pole. They are seeking to infiltrate the institutions that the outsider left rejects, believing change is more effectively achieved from the inside.
Pew's outsider left aligns with the Green Party, as they are the most concerned about climate issues. Their dissatisfaction with the two-party system places them at the anti-establishment pole. This group is not apolitical; rather, their lack of voting consistency stems from a profound distrust of the establishment. They believe meaningful change is more likely to come from grassroots efforts.
The small membership of the Green Party aligns with Pew's data, which shows the outsider left and progressive left groups constituting a combined 28% of their sample. This figure is notably less than the 51% of respondents Pew identifies in the auth-left (Democrat) quadrant.
A Pew Type Outside the Quadrants
Pew’s apolitical stressed sideliners have mixed political views. They are the least politically engaged. These somewhat fit the PCM depiction of the centrist barbeque grill guy, primarily concerned with issues other than politics. This group has many respondents who were financially stressed and may include many low-income citizens and immigrants who, like the outsider left, have little confidence that joining team red or team blue will resolve their struggles.
Further Reading or Listening
That’s the end, unless (a) you’re using assistive technology and want to continue on to text that will read audibly the content of the image above, or (b) you want to read the references section below. See also the related prior post about the original international version of the political compass.
Repeat of Quadrants Content
This section repeats the writing in the quadrants, for any who have difficulty reading in that format. Groups are presented in order of political party size. The top two quadrants are labeled pro-establishment and the bottom two, anti-establishment. What’s the benefit of the quadrant format? It’s a heuristic that can stick in the visual memory.
Blue Quadrant (top left) auth-left
Pew type: Democratic mainstays
• Largest of the Dem-leaning groups
• Older, less college educated
• Most identify as moderate
• Most racially and ethnically diverse of all the groups; many Black Democrats
• Liberal views on race, economics and the social safety net, but more conservative on immigration, crime, military power
• Reliable voters
Pew type: Establishment liberals
• Liberal but prefer gradual change
• Recognize societal ills around race and need for correction, but it should come from laws and institutions
• More likely to back compromise
• Generally optimistic about politics
• Very politically active
Red Quadrant (top right) auth-right
Pew type: Committed conservatives
• Highly educated
• Pro-business
• Pro well-managed immigration
• Globalist (support U.S. in world affairs)
• Want limited government
• Fans of Reagan but not Trump
• Very politically active
Pew type: Faith and flag conservatives
• Deeply conservative across issues
• Christianity belongs in public life
• Mostly white and older age
• Strong trump supporters
• Say Jan 6 event overblown by media
• Very politically active
Yellow Quadrant (bottom right) lib-right
Pew type: Populist right
• Least college educated
• Negative view of public education
• Most likely to live in a rural area
• Most fervent hard-liners on immigration
• Say U.S. law favors a powerful few
• Say tax the rich more
• Strong Trump supporters
• Very politically concerned
Pew type: Ambivalent right
• Young, not religious
• Want limited government
• Want stricter immigration policy, but it’s not a top issue
• Lean lib on abortion, gay rights, & legalizing recreational drugs
• Most are not Trump supporters
• Not as politically active
Green Quadrant (bottom left) lib-left
Pew type: Progressive left
• Young and highly educated
• Largest group to say it backed Sen. Bernie Sanders or Sen. Elizabeth Warren in the primaries (but voted Dem in general election)
• More than two-thirds white
• Extremely liberal policy positions
• Very politically active
Pew type: Outsider left
• Especially liberal on issues of race, immigration, and climate
• Many identify as independents
• Not thrilled with Dems or Republicans
• Don’t believe the U.S. is the best nation
• Less politically active; less reliable voters
• Side Democratic when they do vote
References
Montanaro, D. (2021). Feel like you don't fit in either political party? Here's why. https://www.npr.org/2021/11/09/1053929419/feel-like-you-dont-fit-in-either-political-party-heres-why#ambivalent
Pew Research Center. (2021). Beyond red vs. blue: The political typology. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2021/11/PP_2021.11.09_political-typology_REPORT.pdf
About the Author
With a master's degree in psychology and two decades of experience coaching and editing social science and leadership dissertations, I bring a unique academic perspective to socio-political issues. In addition to a minor in women’s and multicultural studies, my background as a court-rostered mediator for five years sharpened my ability to understand and articulate diverse viewpoints.
My professional journey includes work in government, academia, private business, and as a successful self-employed contractor. These varied roles, along with my seven years as a non-profit board member and president, have provided me with a deep understanding of the institutions that shape American society.
Having lived in a wide range of communities—from rural Utah and Colorado, to urban D.C. and Los Angeles—I possess a unique breadth of cultural understanding that bridges both mainstream and alternative perspectives. This eclectic background, coupled with a healthy skepticism of official narratives, allows me to explain complex topics in accessible, jargon-free language.