Atlas / Comparisons / Islamic State vs US Democratic Party
Islamic State and US Democratic Party
Measured distance across six axes
Opposite ends of the recorded space. No axis places them within three points of each other. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, ID, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | ISIS / Daesh | US Democratic Party | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +01 | −03 | 4 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +10 | −05 | 15 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +10 | −02 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +09 | +04 | 5 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +10 | −06 | 16 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +10 | −06 | 16 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
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.
ISIS / Daesh · CU +10
At the ceiling: a totalising religious order enforced by public violence.
- Documented act or statuteSlavery was formally reinstituted and regulated by published guidance.
US Democratic Party · CU −05
Coded −5: the party has moved substantially toward the liberal pole on family and identity questions since 2004.
- Programme textPlatform support for same-sex marriage moved from opposition to endorsement between 2004 and 2012.
- Comparative datasetCHES-equivalent placements put the party well toward the GAL pole relative to European mainstream parties.
ISIS / Daesh · AU +10
At the ceiling: absolute clerical-military command with no institution outside it.
- Programme textA caliphate was declared in 2014 requiring the allegiance of all Muslims on pain of death.
US Democratic Party · AU −02
Negative but not strongly so: the party has expanded federal authority repeatedly while defending procedural constraints on it.
- Programme textSupported statutory federal standards for election administration in 2021–22.
- Documented act or statuteParty leadership declined to abolish the legislative filibuster in 2022 despite holding a majority.
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.
Islamic State
2013– · Iraq, Syria
Restoration of a universal caliphate through mass violence, with obligatory allegiance and death for dissent.
US Democratic Party
1828– · United States
Regulated capitalism, expanded health coverage, civil rights, climate action, and defence of existing institutional procedure.
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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