Atlas / Comparisons / US Democratic Party vs Saudi Religious Monarchy
US Democratic Party and Saudi Religious Monarchy
Measured distance across six axes
Opposed programmes with little shared ground. They agree within three points on SC, CH. They diverge by eight points or more on EC, CU, AU, ID.
Axis by axis
| Axis | US Democratic Party | Saudi Religious Monarchy | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | −03 | +05 | 8 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | −05 | +10 | 15 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | −02 | +10 | 12 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +04 | +07 | 3 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| ID · Rule of membership | −06 | +09 | 15 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | −06 | −07 | 1 | 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.
US Democratic Party · EC −03
Regulated capitalism with subsidised private insurance markets. Well right of any European social democratic party.
- Documented act or statuteThe 2010 Affordable Care Act expanded coverage through subsidised private insurance rather than public provision.
- Documented act or statuteThe 2022 Inflation Reduction Act operates through tax credits to private firms rather than public ownership.
Saudi Religious Monarchy · EC +05
Coded mildly market: a state oil monopoly financing very large transfers alongside an otherwise private commercial economy.
- Documented act or statuteSaudi Aramco remains majority state-owned with a minority public listing since 2019.
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.
Saudi Religious Monarchy · CU +10
At the ceiling: religious authority over public conduct, with substantial relaxation since 2017.
- Documented act or statuteThe driving ban on women was lifted in 2018 and the religious police lost arrest powers in 2016.
- Documented act or statuteMale guardianship requirements were reduced from 2019 but not abolished.
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.
US Democratic Party
1828– · United States
Regulated capitalism, expanded health coverage, civil rights, climate action, and defence of existing institutional procedure.
Saudi Religious Monarchy
1932– · Saudi Arabia
Dynastic rule legitimated by a strict religious establishment; no parties, no elections, no constitution other than scripture.
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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