S U P P O R T   T H I S   P R O J E C T

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Let's Shine A Light!

We get lots of comments from people who take the World's Smallest Political Quiz, but one particular one is our favorite.

It's from a fellow who said that seeing the Quiz's "new political map" for the first time was like being color-blind all his life -- and then, miraculously, seeing the world in full, glorious color. Thanks to the Quiz, the entire spectrum of politics was suddenly visible to him.

That fellow, like many Americans, used to think politics was a straight line from Left to Right. But that didn't make sense to him.

After all, is someone really a "Liberal" if he supports civil liberties and free speech -- but also wants low taxes? Is someone really a "Conservative" if she favors free trade and privatizing Social Security -- but also endorses the decriminalization of marijuana? And what about people who favor every big-government program imaginable, from National ID cards to high taxes, and from corporate welfare to censorship? What do you call them?

When that fellow took the Quiz, a lightbulb went on. He suddenly realized, yes, there are Liberals and Conservatives -- but there are also Centrists, Libertarians, and Statists. Each group places a different value on economic and personal freedoms. Suddenly, all the so-called political "contradictions" vanished. Suddenly, everyone fit. Suddenly, politics made sense.

His reaction illustrates why the Quiz is so popular. More than 13,400 websites link to it. The Washington Post and USA Today have praised it. About 4,500 people a day take it online. And about 200 colleges and high schools use it in their political science classrooms.

But millions of people have never heard of the Quiz. So, millions of people have no idea where they really stand politically. Others are intimidated by politics, and opt out of voting. Others believe they're conservatives (when they're not), or liberals (when they're not), or centrists (when they're not).

We'd like to change that. We'd like to make sure that every American can find out -- honestly and accurately -- where he or she falls on the political spectrum.

Of course, that's not our only reason for promoting the Quiz. The Advocates for Self-Government is a libertarian organization, and the Quiz shows people where we fit on the political map. The Quiz replaces the old "Left-vs-Right" view of American politics, which locks out libertarians, with a more accurate political map that includes libertarians. That's important to us.

No, the Quiz won't magically convince people to embrace libertarian views or support libertarian-leaning candidates. It just lets people know we're here. And for those people who do score libertarian, we make sure information about libertarianism is available for them (and for you, too, if you're curious).

By the way, while the Advocates is libertarian, we're also nonpartisan. We're not affiliated with any political party. We don't tell people who to vote for. Our only agenda is liberty, no matter what political label is attached to it. However, we do believe that when people have more political information, they are more likely to vote -- and more likely to cast a knowledgeable vote in line with their core beliefs. (Presumably that means people who score Centrist are more likely to vote for centrist candidates.)

But to create more knowledgeable voters, we first must reach more people. We need your help to make it happen.

 
Here's our plan: We're working on a major advertising campaign to publicize the Quiz. We're starting in political magazines of every ideological stripe -- National Review, Mother Jones, The Weekly Standard, The Nation, The New Republic, American Conservative, The Utne Reader, and so on.

By targeting these magazines, we focus on Americans who are most interested in politics. They are most likely to visit a political website and take a political quiz. They are ready, eager, and smart enough to be intrigued by this powerful tool that can amplify their political understanding.

Later, we'll go after readers of non-political magazines. That way, we'll target people who may have tuned out of the political system -- because they consider themselves "politically homeless," or because they're intimidated by their lack of political understanding.

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "A mind stretched by a new idea never returns to its original shape." With your help, we can stretch the minds of millions of Americans. If we run enough eye-catching ads, we can persuade a whole generation of voters to visit the World's Smallest Political Quiz -- and begin to understand politics in a whole new way.

We can run an advertisement about the Quiz in a major political magazine for as little as $200. A donation of $100 will get us halfway there. $50 would be great. Even $20 will make a big difference.

Whatever you can give, your donation will make it happen. And every one person who sees our ads and visits the Quiz will mean one smarter, more aware, more energized voter in the next election. Would you like to do your part to help make hundreds of thousands of Americans smarter about politics? Please, click here to contribute. Thank you! [Go to Donation Page]

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