The Pournelle chart, developed by Jerry Pournelle (in his 1963 political science Ph.D. dissertation), is a 2-dimensional coordinate system used to distinguish political ideologies. It is similar to the Political compass and the Nolan Chart in that it is a two-dimensional chart, but the axes chosen in the Pournelle chart are different from those in other systems. Pournelle chart colorized. ... Pournelle chart colorized. ... Jerry Pournelle, (born August 7, 1933) is an American essayist, journalist and science fiction author who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte. ... The chart proposed by the Political Compass Organisation A political compass or political diamond is a multi-axis model used to label or organize political thought on several dimensions. ... David Nolan first published what is frequently referred to as the Nolan Chart in an article called The Case for a Libertarian Political Party in the August 1971 issue of The Individualist, the monthly magazine of the Society for Individual Liberty (SIL). ...

The two axes are as follows:

• The x-axis (labeled Statism) refers to a political philosophy's feelings toward state and centralised government. The farthest right is state worship, and the farthest left views a state as the "ultimate evil". This is equivalent to the diagonal of the Nolan chart.
• The y-axis (labeled Rationalism) referring to a political philosophy's belief that all problems in society have rational solutions. The top indicates complete confidence in rational problem solving, and the bottom represents skepticism of such approaches. This axis is not used in other systems, because the "up" direction includes all philosophies that claim society's problems can be solved through rationality, regardless of whether this process is government-led or individual-led.

"Leftist" ideologies, such as American liberalism, socialism and communism, are placed by Pournelle in the upper right-hand quadrant of high state control and high rationalism. Conservatism, fascism and Nazism are placed in the lower right hand quadrant of high state control and low rationalism. Classical anarchists are in the lower left hand corner of low state control and low rationalism. Libertarians and Objectivists are placed in the upper lefthand corner of low state control and high rationalism. Statism (or Etatism) is a term used in a variety of disciplines (economics, sociology, education policy etc) to describe a system that involves a significant interventionist role for the state in economic or social affairs. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... This article or section needs additional references or sources. ... Socialism refers to a broad array of doctrines or political movements that envisage a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to social control. ... This article is about communism as a form of society and as a political movement. ... This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Fascism is a radical totalitarian political philosophy that combines elements of corporatism, authoritarianism, extreme nationalism, militarism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism and anti-liberalism. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations. ... This article deals with the libertarianism as defined in America and several other nations. ... Objectivism is opposed to subjectivism and may mean: Metaphysical objectivism The philosophy of Ayn Rand, Objectivist philosophy The poetry of the Objectivist poets Moral objectivism, Objective morality This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...

Criticisms of the model

This model lacks some nuances as to what is referred to as "control". For example, one may wish to divide the question into issues of personal freedom, and other issues. For instance, up into the 20th century, the United States gave a significant leeway to its citizens with respect to security (right to bear arms) while at the same time heavily regulating sexual activities, even between adults in private, see Comstock Law and sodomy law. The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... The Comstock Law was a 19th century United States law that made it illegal to send any obscene, lewd, or lascivious books through the mail. ... A sodomy law is a law which defines certain sexual acts as sex crimes. ...

Some have criticized the model for the pejorative use of the word "irrational". However, this word does not indicate that the political philosophies near the "bottom" are irrational, nor that those who hold them are irrational. Rather, the "bottom" of the scale represents the belief that human rationality cannot perfect society. For example, the conservatism of Edmund Burke would be near the middle on the left-right scale, but near the bottom on the "rationality" scale (3/1', in Pournelle-style notation), because Burke believed that human society was not perfectable and was skeptical about initiatives aimed at vast improvements to society. Since Pournelle himself has views not far from those of Burke, it is clear that the term "irrational" is not intended as a pejorative. This article deals with conservatism as a political philosophy. ... Edmund Burke The Right Honourable Edmund Burke (January 12, 1729 – July 9, 1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman, author, orator and political philosopher, who served for many years in the British House of Commons as a member of the Whig party. ...

See also

• Political compass
• Political spectrum
• Nolan Chart

The chart proposed by the Political Compass Organisation A political compass or political diamond is a multi-axis model used to label or organize political thought on several dimensions. ... A political spectrum is a way of comparing or visualizing different political positions. ... David Nolan first published what is frequently referred to as the Nolan Chart in an article called The Case for a Libertarian Political Party in the August 1971 issue of The Individualist, the monthly magazine of the Society for Individual Liberty (SIL). ...

External links

• The Pournelle Political Axes
• Dating the Pournelle Axes