Power: Security / Liberty

What this axis explores

Security gives greater weight to public order, enforcement and state intervention in civil life. Liberty gives greater weight to privacy, personal autonomy, expression and limits on coercion. These priorities can conflict when policies promise collective protection at an individual cost.

How the questions explore the axis

The pool covers surveillance, facial recognition, policing, censorship, detention, weapons, curfews, punishment, drug laws, expression and financial privacy. Some statements describe difficult cases in order to distinguish general preferences from agreement with one familiar policy.

This is a civil-power axis. It does not directly measure government spending or determine whether public services should be privately owned. A useful point of reflection is the burden of proof before the state restricts someone. Ask whether your answer changes with the seriousness of a threat, the reliability of the evidence or the ability to challenge an official decision afterward.