12axes Political Test: Where do you really stand?
Rate a set of statements. Get your political shape across 12 axes and find the ideologies closest to you.
The test
What is the 12axes political test?
12axes is a free political test that measures your views on twelve separate axes instead of the usual one or two. You rate statements from strongly agree to strongly disagree, and the test places you between two poles on each axis: federal or unitary, democratic or autocratic, planned or laissez-faire, and nine more.
It comes from a family of online political quizzes that began with 8values and its four axes, grew into 9axes, and then into the original 12axes test. 12axes.pro keeps the original twelve axes, rewrites many of the statements for readers anywhere in the world, and adds what the original never had: a match against 83 ideologies and 124 historical figures, a political shape you can share, and a plain-English sentence that sums up where you stand.
- 12
- political axes
- 288
- statements in the pool
- 83
- ideologies to match
- 124
- historical figures
How it works
How the 12 axes test works
- 1
Rate the statements
Choose a length. Every version draws the same number of statements toward each pole of every axis, at four levels of intensity, so agreeing with everything lands you near the centre.
- 2
Get scored on 12 axes
Agreeing with an extreme statement counts for more than agreeing with a mild one, and rejecting a mild statement says more than rejecting an extreme one. Each axis gets a percentage between its two poles.
Wealth66% MarketsLeaningEqualityMarkets - 3
See who you match
Your twelve scores form a shape. We compare it with every ideology and historical figure in the catalogue and show the closest, the farthest, and how close you are on each area of politics.
The model
The 12 political axes
The axes fall into four areas of politics. Each one runs between two poles, and you can sit anywhere along it, so an economic left-winger can still be a social traditionalist, or a free-marketeer a pacifist.
Government
- FederalUnitary
- DemocraticAutocratic
- SecurityFreedom
Foreign & Nation
- InternationalistNationalist
- MilitaristPacifist
- AssimilationistMulticulturalist
Economy
- EqualityMarkets
- PlannedLaissez-faire
- ProtectionistGlobalist
Society
- SecularReligious
- ProgressiveTraditional
- AccelerationistBioconservative
Your result
What your 12axes result shows
- Your political shape. All 24 poles on one chart, with spikes toward the ones you lean to.
- Your closest ideology, with a match percentage and the rest of the top list.
- One sentence that sums you up, built from your most decided axes.
- All 12 axes with the strength of each lean, from balanced to extreme.
- Historical figures closest to you, overall and on government, the world, the economy and society.
- A share image sized for Instagram, X and group chats, plus a link that reopens your result.
Example result
Liberal FeminismLiberal · 92% match“I want leaders who answer to voters, peace and diplomacy over force and religion kept out of law and public life.”
Compared
12axes vs the Political Compass and 8values
A two-axis chart puts a free-market pacifist and a free-market hawk in the same spot. More axes keep them apart. Here is how the best-known political tests compare.
| Test | Axes | What it measures | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Political Compass | 2 | Economic left–right, authoritarian–libertarian | A point on a two-dimensional grid |
| 8values | 4 | Economy, diplomacy, state, society | Four percentages and a closest ideology |
| Original 12axes | 12 | Government, foreign affairs, economy, society | Twelve percentages |
| 12axes.pro | 12 | The same twelve axes, with rewritten statements and intensity-weighted scoring | Your political shape, 83 ideologies and 124 historical figures ranked, a summary sentence, a share image |
Method
Why you can trust your result
Balanced by design
Each axis has 24 statements, half toward each pole, spread over four levels of intensity. Every test length keeps that balance, so the result reflects what you believe, not how agreeable you are.
An open method
The scoring is explained in full, and every ideology and figure shows its position on all twelve axes with a written reason for each. You can check any match yourself.
Neutral wording
Statements were reviewed to remove loaded language and to describe each view the way its own supporters would. No side is described more kindly than another.
Grounded comparisons
Historical figures are placed from what they wrote, said and did. We only include people who have died, and every portrait is public domain or freely licensed.
Explore
Ideologies in the 12axes test
- Social DemocracySocial democratic
- LibertarianismLibertarian
- ConservatismConservative
- Classical LiberalismLiberal
- ProgressivismLiberal
- Marxism-LeninismCommunist
- Anarcho-CapitalismLibertarian
- Green PoliticsEcological
- Christian DemocracyConservative
- National ConservatismConservative
- Anarcho-communismAnarchist
- TechnocracyTechnological
Historical figures you can match
- Abraham Lincoln
- Winston Churchill
- Karl Marx
- Adam Smith
- Mahatma Gandhi
Martin Luther King Jr.
Margaret Thatcher
George Orwell
Friedrich Hayek
Nelson Mandela
John Locke
Simone de Beauvoir
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Hannah Arendt
Milton Friedman
Emma Goldman
FAQ
Questions about the 12axes test
What is the 12axes test?
12axes is a free online political test that scores your views on twelve separate axes, from federal versus unitary government to accelerationism versus bioconservatism. It then compares your profile with 83 ideologies and 124 historical figures.
How long does the 12axes political test take?
The Quick test has 48 statements and takes about 5 minutes. Standard has 96 statements (about 12 minutes) and Full has 192 (about 25 minutes). Longer tests give a steadier result.
How accurate is the 12axes test?
It is a structured way to explore your political views, not a scientific instrument. Every test length is balanced between the two poles of each axis and across levels of intensity, and the scoring weighs how extreme each statement is. Results on the Standard and Full tests vary less between attempts than on the Quick test.
What is the difference between 12axes and 8values?
8values places you on four axes: economy, diplomacy, state and society. 12axes splits those areas into twelve narrower axes, such as separating trade policy from economic planning, or immigration from foreign policy, so combinations that 8values would average out stay visible.
Is 12axes a political compass test?
It answers the same question in more detail. The Political Compass uses two axes, economic and social. 12axes uses twelve, grouped into government, foreign affairs, economy and society, and adds matches with named ideologies and historical figures.
What does the match percentage mean?
It is 100 minus the typical gap between your position and an ideology or figure across the 12 axes. A 90% match means you are, on average, about ten points apart on each axis. It measures closeness of views, not membership of a movement.
Is the test free, and do I need an account?
The test is free and needs no sign-up. Your answers are scored in your browser and never pass through our servers; a result link stores only your twelve scores.
Where do the questions come from?
The twelve axes and the original statements come from the open-source 12axes test (MIT License). We have rewritten many statements to fix errors, remove loaded wording and make them clear to readers outside the United States.
What shape are you?
48 statements, about 5 minutes, no sign-up.