Who is left and who is right in Estonia, and why

The political compass has two axes. The economic axis measures how much the state should intervene in the economy: taxes, pensions, public services. The social axis measures values and order: marriage, migration, climate, direct democracy. The map of the parties is on the political compass page. Here we look at which positions put each party where it is.

How the position is calculated

Each party's documented positions on the test's statements go through the same formula that places the person taking the test, as if the party itself had answered it. Each answer becomes a number from −100 (left or progressive) to +100 (right or conservative), and the position on each axis is their average.

The economic axis covers the topics "Economy and taxes", "Pensions, family and welfare" and "Regions and rural life" (12 statements); the social axis covers "Migration", "Energy and environment", "Values and society" and "Government and democracy" (15 statements). Defence, language and Europe (11 statements) do not count on the compass.

Which way "strongly agree" pushes you is decided by reference parties. On the economic axis, SDE and Keskerakond are on the left, and Reformierakond, Parempoolsed and Isamaa on the right. On the social axis, SDE, Eesti 200 and Reformierakond are on the progressive side, and EKRE, Isamaa and Keskerakond on the conservative side. If both groups answer a statement in almost the same way (their averages differ by less than half a point), the direction is unclear and the statement does not count on the compass. There are four such statements: abolishing the car tax, bringing the standard VAT rate back down from 24%, much larger benefits for large families, and a nuclear power plant. That leaves 9 statements on the economic axis and 14 on the social one.

One caveat. Because the reference parties set the direction, SDE and Keskerakond are partly on the economic left by definition. The compass does not say who is "really" left-wing. It shows how far each party goes, and on which issues.

The seven parties on the compass

A minus sign means left or progressive; a plus sign, right or conservative.

Party by party

SDE: the furthest left on the economy. On seven of the nine economic statements, SDE is at the left end of the scale: a higher income tax rate for people who earn more, pensions rising faster even if taxes have to go up, keeping small village schools open, cutting VAT on food, free university education. SDE is also against more personal responsibility in healthcare and prefers raising taxes to cutting spending. On the social axis, SDE is progressive on marriage, abortion, a climate law, forest felling and punishing incitement to hatred. On the two migration statements, SDE stays in the middle.

Keskerakond: left-wing and conservative. On the economy, Keskerakond is almost as far left as SDE: the two are at the same end on income tax, VAT on food, village schools and healthcare. Keskerakond is the only party that strongly agrees with free public transport. On the social axis the party is on the conservative side, but not because of marriage or abortion: on those two statements Keskerakond is on the progressive side. What makes it conservative is oil shale electricity, its opposition to a climate law, direct election of the president and binding citizens' referendums. Keskerakond also does not want to make it easier to hire workers from outside the EU or to raise the immigration quota.

EKRE: the most conservative, in the centre on the economy. On the social axis, EKRE is at the conservative end on 11 of the 14 statements: marriage in the Constitution, restricting abortion, restricting migration, oil shale, against a climate law and onshore wind farms, against internet voting, for direct election of the president and binding referendums, and against tougher punishments for incitement to hatred. On the economy, EKRE lands in the centre (−5.6) because its positions point in different directions. Cutting VAT on food, village schools and opposing more personal responsibility in healthcare push it left. Opposing a higher income tax rate and a property tax, and preferring spending cuts to tax rises, push it right. That is why EKRE and Keskerakond share a quadrant on the map, even though they are far apart on the economy (−5.6 and −77.8).

Isamaa: conservative, moderately right-wing on the economy. On the social axis, Isamaa is the most conservative party after EKRE (+46.4): marriage in the Constitution, restricting migration, against a climate law and onshore wind farms, and against tougher punishments for incitement to hatred. On the economy, Isamaa is on the right (+22.2), but not as far as Reformierakond or Parempoolsed. Isamaa opposes a property tax and prefers spending cuts to tax rises, but supports cutting VAT on food, village schools and free university education. Two statements Isamaa strongly agrees with do not count on the compass: abolishing the car tax and much larger benefits for large families. Their direction is unclear, because the reference parties answer them in almost the same way.

Reformierakond and Eesti 200: almost at the same point. Of the test's 38 statements, these two parties take exactly the same position on 23 and are never more than two points apart. Both are on the economic right (Reformierakond +50.0, Eesti 200 +44.4): against a higher income tax rate for higher earners, cutting VAT on food and free public transport. On the social axis both are progressive: for keeping internet voting, a climate law and onshore wind farms, and against writing marriage into the Constitution. Among the statements that count on the compass, they differ most on healthcare: Reformierakond agrees with more personal responsibility, Eesti 200 does not.

Parempoolsed: the furthest right on the economy, on the progressive side socially. On seven of the nine economic statements, Parempoolsed is at the right end of the scale: against a higher income tax rate, pensions rising faster through tax increases, free public transport, a property tax and free university education, and for more personal responsibility in healthcare and spending cuts instead of tax rises. On the social axis Parempoolsed is on the progressive side (−25.0): for keeping internet voting, and against direct election of the president, binding citizens' referendums and restricting abortion. Parempoolsed is on the conservative side on three statements: against a climate law, tougher punishments for incitement to hatred and reducing forest felling.

What the compass does not show

The 11 statements on defence, language and Europe do not count on the compass, even though that is where several parties differ sharply. On two of them, EKRE and Keskerakond stand against the other five:

• "Estonia should keep defence spending at 5% of GDP or more, even if that means cuts in other areas." Five parties are in favour; EKRE and Keskerakond disagree.
• "Frozen Russian assets should be used to fund Ukraine." The same split.

On continuing military aid to Ukraine, however, only EKRE is against; Keskerakond is in favour. On language, the two parties go in opposite directions. Keskerakond strongly agrees with making it easier for people who have lived in Estonia since before 1991 to obtain citizenship; EKRE strongly disagrees. EKRE strongly agrees with requiring people who work with customers to speak Estonian, with higher fines; Keskerakond disagrees.

If these statements counted on the compass, the map would look different. That is why the compass is a simplification: your test result takes every statement into account, and every position of each party is on its page.

How to read it

The compass shows where the parties land according to our statements. It is neither how the parties describe themselves nor where researchers place them, and with other questions the map would be somewhat different. Each place on the map rests on positions you can check against their sources on each party's page.

If you want to know where you stand, take the test: the result shows your place on the same map, with the same calculation.