Map My Politics

THE ENVIRONMENTALISM DIMENSION – Green, Non-Protective and Moderate

The primary objective of the Map My Politics website is to place users within one of the political ideologies that populate the two-axis chart of relative economic and social freedom. Choices in our political quiz are designed with that goal in mind. There are some issues, however, that do not correlate particularly well with some or most of the chart’s ideologies. Accordingly, we also use our quiz to indicate a user’s political ideology on three additional dimensions, one of which is relative environmentally protective.

Broadly speaking, the dimension of ideological environmentalism relates to how inclined someone is to believe that the government should safeguard and improve the natural environment. Those holding a more environmentalist viewpoint are said to be environmentally protective or “green” while those holding a contrary position are said to be anti-environmental, with moderates falling somewhere in the middle.

Apart from social libertarianism, which is unique among the ideologies on the Map My Politics chart for its identification with environmental protectiveness, the dimension of relative environmentalism does not necessarily correspond with a particular political ideology. For example, there are liberals who believe human economic concerns outweigh ecological ones, just as there are conservatives who advocate for stricter clean air and water regulations. While it is often true that an ideology on the more laissez-faire side of the x-axis of economic freedom might be less environmentally protective than one on the less free market side, this is not uniformly so. For instance, a democratic socialist might support protectionist trade policies and higher income and capital gains tax rates, but he might also be willing to delay transition to a green economy in order to sustain more traditional industrial jobs. Similarly, a neoliberal might believe the government should keep tax rates low to promote entrepreneurship, but she might be sufficiently concerned about ecological sustainability to promote corporate cap and trade programs on carbon emissions and other anti-pollution measures.

Those who are more moderate in their relative environmental protectiveness tend view matters as more situational. In other words, the particular facts in a given situation might indicate the correct course of action rather than an ideological disposition. Typically, Americans tend to be more green when their own personal safety is perceived as being under threat for environmental reasons or when their personal liberty and economic interests are not overly jeopardized by eco-friendly regulation. Often, as with other expressed political beliefs, it can be more of a “do as I say, not as I do” situation. Just like the additional political dimension of fiscal hawkishness, environmentalism necessarily involves some measure of economic scarcity. As such, it’s often inconvenient to personally practice or even politically advocate for austerity, even though the consequences of profligacy are unpleasant.

Just as there is little correlation between environmental protectiveness (or anti-protectiveness) and one’s position on the MMP Two-Axis Chart, greens, non-greens and moderates can be found in both of the main political parties. While the Democratic Party historically might have been viewed as more environmentally protective than the GOP, it’s useful to remember that the Environmental Protection Agency was formed by executive order of a Republican president (Richard Nixon) and the Clean Air Act was substantially strengthened by another (George H.W. Bush). At Map My Politics we believe that political preferences are ultimately more about ideology than party. For this reason, our quiz includes in a user’s results their position on environmentalism, this important additional ideological dimension.

For further reading about the environmentalism dimension, click here.

To return to your Results page and the Map My Politics Ideology Chart, where you can learn more about other ideologies, click here.

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