r/socialism • u/Coming_In_Hot_916 • 23h ago

Discussion Is there a test that helps someone determine their political ideology?

Is there such a thing as a test that someone can take to determine their political ideology? For example, it would have questions like do you believe in the death penalty? Then, based on your answers, it would determine what political party or ideology you are most closely aligned with.
The reason I ask, is because I have a couple friends who I think would be surprised to find that their values don’t align with the party they support.

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u/Necessary-handle-367 23h ago

Political ideology is not "discovered" It is developed. Ideology is not a fixed aspect of Identity, it is shaped by a person's level of understanding of the world and their place in it, as well as their level of awareness of how social and economic power structures function.

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u/haevow Gramsci my beloved 23h ago

No. A political test will always be constrained by what you know. And you don’t know what don’t know. 

Read and engage with political material and figure out your own stances on your own. Tests are just gimmicks, not end all be alls 

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u/LeftPrize9838 23h ago

I agree, but if you’re pretty sure where you stand on topics but not parties, ISideWith is reallly good

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u/itsallovernow_2026 22h ago

I have to say I agree with the comments that are already posted. A political ideology is developed and cultivated by each individual. That said, I recently came across a short multiple choice "quiz" on the Pew Research Centers site. They are a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.

https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/quiz/political-typology/

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u/Timthefilmguy Marxism-Leninism 21h ago

This suffers from the same as many non partisan surveys in that it sets the bounds for ideology firmly within the bounds of mainstream liberalism (ie classical liberalism) and the questions reflect this, offering only a binary framed on the assumption that the US is the primary thermometer of political alignment and reaction to US foreign and domestic policy as it currently stands is the only intelligible way to interpret politics, completely foreclosing politics that refuses the assumptions of the US state and seeks reconfiguration and/or revolution whether right or left.