Back to the Nolan Chart

In developing the Asplund Chart, the Nolan Chart was used as an example of another two-axis political map. Here's what happens when I map the Asplund Chart back onto the Nolan Chart.

This mapping helps to show that the political parties aren't just evenly distributed left and right. They're also skewed towards the bottom half of the Nolan Chart. Moderates are in the part of the Nolan Chart often labeled Authoritarian or Statist. Centrists, independents and libertarians occupy a large block in the upper middle of the chart. Everyone along the edge or outside the chart is considered politically extreme.

That first mapping shows the major parties. This next one shows a more ideological breakdown.

This chart shows why the centrists, independents and libertarians don't work together. The strong ideological divisions between conservatives, progressives and libertarians keep them apart. There is a stable ruling class populated by Republican and Democratic Party elites, their patrons and the administrative state. Each party keeps their own base in line by marginalizing strongly ideological candidates on their side as wing nuts. This narrows the political mainstream to establishment Republicans, establishment Democrats, bipartisan moderates and independent centrists. The expanding centralized government consensus in this smaller political playing field leads to democracy's drift.

This is how the left-right axis should be placed on this modified Nolan Chart.

The middle of the left-right axis is always claimed by the moderates. The two major party establishments are then immediately left and right of this modified center. Ideological conservatives and progressives are farther from the center. Reactionary anarchists (militia movements) occupy the far right end of the axis, while revolutionary anarchists (Che fans) are on the far left end. This diagram helps to explain why the Republican establishment is so often characterized as reactionary totalitarians (corporatists/oligarchs/fascists) and the Democratic establishment is portrayed as revolutionary totalitarians (communists/socialists/fascists). They are the closest groups in mainstream politics to the various totalitarian ideologies.

The Asplund Chart provides a framework for fleshing out these more widely used political maps to more realistically track political dynamics.