Structure: Decentralisation or Centralisation?

Where the library sits on this axis

The 112 written profiles are each stored with one value for this axis, written by hand. These are the ones furthest toward either end, and the ones closest to the middle.

These are editorial readings of the positions, not measurements of any party, movement or voter, and every vector is open to disagreement. Every profile, all three sets →

The statements that measure this axis

The question bank holds 10 statements for structure: 5 coded so that agreement counts toward Centralisation, and 5 coded the other way, toward Decentralisation. The Short version draws 3 of them, Standard 5 and Deep 10.

• “A strong central government is needed to make a country equal.” agreeing counts toward Centralisation
• “Local councils and regions should decide most of what affects daily life.” agreeing counts toward Decentralisation
• “Shared national standards are better than a patchwork of local rules.” agreeing counts toward Centralisation
• “Capital cities should not decide what happens in distant provinces.” agreeing counts toward Decentralisation
• “National crises expose the weakness of fragmented authority.” agreeing counts toward Centralisation
• “Cities and regions should be allowed to run their own tax and welfare systems.” agreeing counts toward Decentralisation
• “Infrastructure and health systems work better when run nationally.” agreeing counts toward Centralisation
• “Communities understand their own problems better than ministries do.” agreeing counts toward Decentralisation
• “A country divided into regions can be played off by its rivals.” agreeing counts toward Centralisation
• “Decentralised decision-making is the best available defence against tyranny.” agreeing counts toward Decentralisation

How this axis is scored

Each statement is answered on a five-point scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree. On this axis, 5 statements count agreement toward Centralisation and 5 count it toward Decentralisation, so a run where you agree with everything does not drift to one end.

The two directions are averaged separately and then weighted equally, and the result is reported between −100 and +100: negative toward Decentralisation, positive toward Centralisation. A statement you skip is not counted on this axis at all, so skipping never moves the score. Anything inside ±12 is recorded as centred rather than as a lean.

The same twelve values are what your result is matched against. How scoring works, in full →