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◆ THE IDEOLOGY ATLAS
Photo of Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela

Historical and international

Photo: Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Position estimated from: ANC leadership and presidency 1994-99: multiracial democracy, reconciliation.

How much do you agree with Mandela? →Open the interactive profile

Political compass placement

Map dimensionScore (0–100)PositionReading
Economic
Collective / planned ↔ Market
38near the center
Social
Progressive ↔ Traditional
35near the center
Authority
Libertarian ↔ Authoritarian
22toward libertarian
National identity
Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist
34toward cosmopolitan
Foreign policy
Non-intervention ↔ Intervention
35near the center
All nine underlying dimensions
DimensionScoreReading
Economic ownership
Collective ownership ↔ Private ownership
40near the center
Civil liberties
Civil liberty ↔ State restrictions
34toward civil liberty
National identity
Cosmopolitan ↔ Nationalist
34toward cosmopolitan
Social and cultural values
Progressive ↔ Traditionalist
40near the center
Political governance
Democratic ↔ Autocratic
10strongly toward democratic
Equality and hierarchy
Egalitarian ↔ Hierarchical
18toward egalitarian
Economic management
Free market ↔ State planning
65near the center
Military intervention
Non-intervention ↔ Intervention
35near the center
Religion and government
Secular state ↔ Religious authority
25toward secular state

These positions are estimates on the Atlas’s nine-dimension scale, produced by running the available evidence through the same questions and scoring used for test-takers. They are interpretations for comparison, not objective measurements. How scores are made.

Key positions

StatementPositionBasis
Opposition parties should be free to compete in elections.Strongly agreesestimated
Religious doctrine should take precedence over civil law when they conflict.Strongly disagreesestimated
People should be free to criticize the government without fear of legal punishment.Strongly agreesestimated
Abortion should be illegal in most or all cases.Strongly disagreesfrom their record
Preserving a historic national majority is a legitimate immigration objective.Strongly disagreesestimated
Society works best when established social hierarchies are respected.Strongly disagreesestimated
Military power should be used proactively when serious external threats are emerging.Strongly disagreesestimated
The means of production should ultimately be owned collectively.Disagreesestimated
Central economic planning is preferable to decentralized market decisions.Disagreesestimated
A more equal distribution of social power is desirable.Strongly agreesestimated

Closest ideologies

Social Democracy93% similar positionParticipatory Democracy92% similar positionDirect Democracy90% similar positionPost-Growth Politics89% similar positionSocial Liberalism88% similar position

Similar and contrasting figures

Mehdi Hasan93% similar · CommentatorsCenk Uygur92% similar · CommentatorsLuiz Inácio Lula da Silva92% similar · Historical and internationalOlof Palme91% similar · Historical and internationalAna Kasparian90% similar · CommentatorsAdolf HitlerContrasting: 40% similarFrancisco FrancoContrasting: 43% similarBenito MussoliniContrasting: 44% similar

Sources

Profile last reviewed October 11, 2026.