Atlas / Comparisons / Bukelismo vs Classical Liberalism
Bukelismo and Classical Liberalism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. No axis places them within three points of each other. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, SC.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Nuevas Ideas | Manchester School | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +05 | +09 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +06 | −02 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +08 | −07 | 15 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +06 | −03 | 9 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +03 | −03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +02 | −04 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
Nuevas Ideas · CU +06
Coded +6: a security-first social order with conservative positions on family policy.
- Documented act or statuteGender studies content was removed from the public school curriculum in 2024.
Manchester School · CU −02
Coded −2: religious toleration and legal equality against inherited privilege.
- Programme textMill's On Liberty (1859) sets the harm principle against social as well as legal coercion.
Nuevas Ideas · AU +08
Elected with very high approval, and the constraints on the office removed one by one.
- Documented act or statuteThe legislature removed the constitutional chamber judges and the attorney general in May 2021.
- Documented act or statuteThe reconstituted court then permitted consecutive re-election despite an explicit constitutional prohibition.
Manchester School · AU −07
Coded −7: constitutional limitation as the school's founding commitment.
- Programme textWealth of Nations and On Liberty both treat concentrated authority as the standing danger.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Bukelismo
2019– · El Salvador
Mass incarceration of suspected gang members under a permanent state of exception, sold as the trade of civil liberties for physical safety.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
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