Discussion
I wonder if the PoliticalCompass.org folks are going to do a graph for this NZ election? I'm very curious as always to see if they think the established parties have moved since 2023, and particularly, where they place the Opportunity Party, and if they place any other new contenders.
(1/?)
If you look at the graphs from previous NZ elections, it quickly become clear that what the news media call the 'left/right spectrum' is actually a left-libertarian to right-authoritarian spectrum. The graph from 2023 is a pretty typical example;
https://politicalcompass.org/nz2023
... but they have analyses going right back to 2008 if you want to check this out for yourself.
(2/?)
I'm guessing that Opportunity will be placed in the left-libertarian quadrant with the Greens. Despite the nonsense "centrist" framing, a result of political commentators here being unable to cope with the idea that partisan vs. nonpartisan is its own spectrum. Quite separate from the left/ right economic one, and the liberatarian/ authoritarian one for social policy that they routinely mash together.
(3/?)
I'm guessing Opportunity will be placed slightly more towards the libertarian end of the graph than the Greens. For policies like the Citizen's Voice, advocating the use of citizens' assemblies. Although perhaps not, due to the Greens having a robust internal democracy, which TOP definitely doesn't.
(4/?)
What do we know about Opportunity's background funding, though?
I recall all the unsure/mid voters in the UK voting Liberal in the UK as they touted themselves in a similar manner, supposedly a balance of left and right.
What they turned out to be a legitimisation mask which totally enabled the worst austerity measures and crippled healthcare and social services so they could be more ringfenced for privatisation etc. Also, it was a peak period of asset/wealth stripping from 99% to 1% comprised of aristocracy, backdoor profiteering politicians, and overseas oligarchs buying up properties then not inhabiting them so local businesses went under.
I won't be voting Opportunity unless their stance is *absolutely* not like that.
I also suspect TOP will be placed a little to the right of the Greens economically. For things like the pro-business tech utopianism of their R&D policy. But maybe not, since a UBI policy funded by a hard-to-dodge Land Tax is way more radically redistributive than the Greens more incremental welfare and tax package.
This is why I'm like a kid a Christmas waiting to see what the PoliticalCompass publish. I'm really not sure how their analysis will slice all this.
(5/5)
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