Is PSOE left wing or right wing?

On economic organisation PSOE scores −04 on a scale from −10 (common ownership) to +10 (private property and markets). On social and cultural order it scores −06. A single left–right figure combines these and four further measurements that move independently, which is why the atlas reports six.

Is PSOE 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, PSOE scores −02. Constitutional monarchy with strong regional autonomy; parliamentary democracy.

Atlas / Organisations / PSOE

PSOE

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party · 1879– · Spain · Social Democratic · Electoral party · coding confidence high

−04ECcollective

−06CUpluralist

−02AUpluralist

+02SCcentral

−06IDuniversal

−07CHlawful

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

Welfare expansion, labour reform, memory legislation, territorial accommodation of the regions.

Economic model

Minimum income scheme, minimum wage rises, pension indexation, market economy with EU fiscal rules.

Organisation of powers

Constitutional monarchy with strong regional autonomy; parliamentary democracy.

Reading note

Governs in coalition with parties considerably to its economic left.

Check a claim about PSOE. 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 −04

Coded −4: minimum income and pension indexation within EU fiscal rules.

Documented act or statuteThe minimum vital income scheme was introduced in 2020 and the minimum wage raised by over 50% since 2018.

CU · Social and cultural order · scored −06

Coded −6: among the most liberal social legislation in Europe.

Documented act or statuteSame-sex marriage 2005, historical memory law 2007 and 2022, abortion reform 2010 and 2023.

AU · Organisation of power · scored −02

Coded −2: constitutional monarchy with strong regional autonomy.

Documented act or statuteGoverns in coalition and by parliamentary agreement with regional parties.

SC · Scale of decision · scored +02

Coded +2: national programmes with accommodation of the autonomous communities.

Documented act or statuteThe 2024 amnesty law was negotiated with Catalan parties to secure investiture.

ID · Rule of membership · scored −06

Coded −6: expansive regularisation of undocumented residents.

Documented act or statuteA 2024–25 reform created a regularisation pathway for around 300,000 people a year.

CH · Method and tempo · scored −07

Coded −7: entirely electoral since the transition.

Documented act or statuteAccepted defeat and returned to office repeatedly since 1982.

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

Spain

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). PSOE. The Political Atlas, version 4.2. https://thepoliticalatlas.com/organisations/psoe/ (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.