Atlas / Comparisons / Classical Liberalism vs National Rally
Classical Liberalism and National Rally
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on CH. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, CU, AU, ID.
Axis by axis
| Axis | Manchester School | RN, Front National | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +09 | −01 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −02 | +08 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −07 | +04 | 11 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | −03 | +03 | 6 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −03 | +07 | 10 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −04 | −01 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
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.
Manchester School · EC +09
Coded +9: free exchange as the organising principle of policy.
- Documented act or statuteThe Anti-Corn Law League secured repeal in 1846, the defining victory of the school.
RN, Front National · EC −01
Moved from a market position in the 1980s to a protectionist and pro-welfare position, which is why it now sits near the centre.
- Programme textOpposition to raising the pension age and support for price controls on energy and food staples.
- Comparative datasetCHES records a substantial leftward movement in radical right economic positioning across recent waves.
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.
RN, Front National · CU +08
Coded +8 on national identity, secularism as applied to Islam, and opposition to expanded gender recognition.
- Programme textProgramme commitments to ban the headscarf in public spaces and to restrict legal recognition of gender transition.
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.
Classical Liberalism
1776–1900 · Britain, Europe
Individual liberty, free trade, freedom of contract, religious toleration, constitutional and limited government.
National Rally
1972– · France
National priority for French citizens, sharp restriction of immigration, sovereignty against the EU, protection of purchasing power.
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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