Power axis
Security vs Freedom
How much liberty should people trade for order and safety?
This is the axis most people know as authoritarian versus libertarian. It covers surveillance, policing, drug laws, gun rights and taxation as a matter of principle. It is also one of the four axes used to find your closest ideology.
Security
The state needs strong police, surveillance and law enforcement powers to keep people safe, even if that costs some privacy.
Statements that score Security
- “Those who disagree with the government should be removed from the country.”
- “If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to fear.”
- “The government should have access to the emails of suspected terrorists.”
Freedom
Personal liberty comes first. The government should stay out of private lives, and many victimless acts should not be crimes at all.
Statements that score Freedom
- “The very existence of the state is a threat to our liberty.”
- “The right to bear arms should not be infringed.”
- “Marijuana should be legal.”
In practice
Where it shows up
It surfaces in arguments about mass surveillance and encryption, police powers and protest rules, drug and gun laws, online speech and content moderation, pandemic restrictions, and how much tax the state may take as a matter of principle.
A common misunderstanding
Security is not the same as right-wing, nor Freedom the same as left-wing. Both camps contain people who want strict laws on some issues and none on others. This axis asks how much liberty you would trade for order in general, whatever the topic.
Reading your score
Because this is one of the four axes used for your ideology match, a few points here move your result noticeably. Scores between 40% and 60% suggest you weigh each restriction on its merits; beyond 75% either way you start from a strong default.
Historical figures at each end
Where the thinkers and leaders in our figure set stand on this axis.
Result labels
Your score is the percentage toward Security. The label shown on your result depends on which band it falls in.
- 91-100%Totalitarian
- 76-90%Authoritarian
- 61-75%Statist
- 40-60%Centrist
- 25-39%Liberal
- 10-24%Libertarian
- 0-9%Anarchist
Where do you land on power?
Take the test to see your score on this axis and the other eleven.
Take the 12 Axes test