Essay:Why Republicans Are More Extreme Than Democrats

The Far-Right is a growing movement of Republicans, some of which include Richard Spencer, and Donald Trump, yet there are very few Far-Left Democrats; there's a reason for that: Republicans are usually more extreme than Democrats. It's unhelpful to look at American politics; it's more helpful to look that the entire political spectrum, or the political compass.

The Political Compass

The Political Compass is a coordinate plane that plots politicians based on their political beliefs. The x-axis is the economic axis; the more you advocate for a free market, the more you lean in the +x direction; the more you advocate for a regulated market—or in some instances, no market at all—the more you lean in the -x direction. The y-axis is the statist axis; the more you advocate for a state, the more you lean in the +y direction; the more you advocate for no state, the more you lean in the -y direction. Using these guidelines, it's easy to determine where people (or groups) stand politically.

What the Data Show

Source: https://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2020

According to that political compass, all Republican candidates except for Weld occupy the far economic right and the very statist region of the political spectrum; Weld is more moderate when it comes to politics, but still economically far-right. Democrats, meanwhile, are, on average, more moderate than Republicans when it comes to political views; they're also more diverse than Republicans, probably because there are more Democratic candidates than Republican candidates.

Hard Numbers

On average, Republican candidates are 76.66% statist, and 95% capitalist; on average, Democratic candidates are 26.52% statist, and 41.73% capitalist. A political unit is a term made up in this essay for convenience—it's 20% of a Political Compass, from axis to axis. One average, Republicans are 12.2 political units away from the Center: 0% statist, 0% capitalist, while Democrats are 4.94 political units away from the Center: 0% statist, 0% capitalist. TL;DR: On average, Republicans are 2.47 times more extreme than Democrats.

Why we haven't Noticed Until Recently

The Overton Window is the set of political ideologies that are "normal". For a while, the Overton Window in the US has been near 50% statist, and 50% capitalist on the political spectrum, give or take 10% in both metrics—40-60% statist, and 40-60% authoritarian. Republicans have recently stepped outside of the American Overton Window, and the media took note.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Republican party is more extreme than the Democratic party in terms of world politics; it's unhelpful to just look at the politics of one country (the US, UK, France, Sweden, Germany, Russia, China, etc...). Instead, look at the politics of the entire world. Republicans are no more extreme than Democrats when it comes to American politics, and vice versa, but American politics has its own biases, like the fact that both major US political parties occupy the authoritarian right quadrant of the political spectrum, making American politics somewhat authoritarian right.