Is New Democratic Party left wing or right wing?

On economic organisation New Democratic Party scores −05 on a scale from −10 (common ownership) to +10 (private property and markets). On social and cultural order it scores −07. A single left–right figure combines these and four further measurements that move independently, which is why the atlas reports six.

Is New Democratic Party authoritarian?

On the organisation of power, which measures whether authority is dispersed among institutions that can stop each other or concentrated in a single centre, New Democratic Party scores −03. Parliamentary democracy; supports proportional representation.

Atlas / Organisations / New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

NDP · 1961– · Canada · Social Democratic · Electoral party · coding confidence high

−05ECcollective

−07CUpluralist

−03AUpluralist

+02SCcentral

−07IDuniversal

−06CHlawful

Each axis runs from −10 to +10, with zero a genuine mixed or balanced position rather than an absence of opinion. A score describes a stated position and a governing record; it is not a judgement of merit. What each score means →

Core principles

Universal public services, labour rights, Indigenous reconciliation, wealth taxation.

Economic model

Pharmacare and dental care, public housing, higher corporate and wealth taxes, market economy.

Organisation of powers

Parliamentary democracy; supports proportional representation.

Reading note

Grew from a prairie agrarian socialist party that introduced public health insurance in Saskatchewan before it existed nationally.

Check a claim about New Democratic Party. The interactive atlas measures the distance between any two organisations across all six axes and shows which ones carry the disagreement.

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The evidence for every score

All six cells are sourced. A rationale explains what the score is measuring and each artefact is something a third party can check without taking anyone's word for it.

EC · Economic organisation · scored −05

Coded −5: universal public provision funded by taxation on wealth and excess profit.

Documented act or statuteNegotiated federal dental care and pharmacare through a confidence agreement in 2022–24.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored −07

Coded −7: consistently liberal on social questions and Indigenous rights.

Programme textCampaigns for full implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

AU · Organisation of power · scored −03

Coded −3: pro-proportional representation and parliamentary throughout.

Programme textProgramme commitments to replace first-past-the-post with proportional representation.

SC · Scale of decision · scored +02

Coded +2: national programmes negotiated with provinces.

Documented act or statutePharmacare and dental care were secured through a federal confidence agreement.

ID · Rule of membership · scored −07

Coded −7: expanded immigration and refugee commitments.

Programme textProgramme commitments to end the Safe Third Country Agreement and expand family reunification.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −06

Coded −6: electoral throughout, from an agrarian socialist origin.

Documented act or statuteIts predecessor introduced public health insurance in Saskatchewan in 1962 before it existed nationally.

Nearest organisations by measured distance

Straight-line separation across all six axes, out of a maximum of 49.0. Proximity means similarity of stated position, not endorsement and not resemblance in outcome.

Countries

Canada

Cite this page

Scores are revised on evidence, so a citation should carry the version it refers to. Version 4.3.1 is current; the revision log records every change.

McGrath, K. (2026). New Democratic Party. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/canndp/ (accessed 2026-08-01).

Free to quote and reproduce with attribution. This is a synthesis rather than a peer-reviewed dataset — where an authoritative figure is needed, cite the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, the Manifesto Project or V-Dem.