Ideology Graph Visualizer

Live Demo

What & Why

This project aims to create a web-based, interactive visualization tool for exploring ideological spectrums and the relationships between different viewpoints. In a world of complex political, social, and philosophical ideas, visualizing these concepts can aid understanding, facilitate discussion, and support research.

The goal is to move beyond simple left-right lines and represent ideological landscapes in a more nuanced way, potentially using graph structures or multi-dimensional plots.

Use Cases

• Education: A visual aid for students in political science, sociology, philosophy, etc., to grasp the connections and distinctions between ideologies.
• Research: A tool for researchers to plot and analyze data related to ideological positioning derived from surveys, text analysis, or other sources.
• Journalism & Analysis: An illustrative graphic for articles or reports discussing political landscapes or ideological trends.
• Public Discourse: A shared visual framework to help structure and clarify discussions about different belief systems.
• Personal Learning: A way for individuals to explore and understand the diversity of ideological thought.

Current Features (MVP v1)

• Static display of a predefined ideological map using HTML and potentially a JavaScript library (like D3.js).
• Nodes representing specific ideologies or key figures/concepts.
• Basic web rendering.

Potential Future Features

• Interactivity: Hovering over nodes for tooltips, clicking for detailed information panels (definitions, key proponents, related concepts, sources).
• Data Customization: Ability to load different datasets defining ideologies and their relationships (e.g., via JSON).
• Layout Algorithms: Options for different visual layouts (e.g., force-directed graphs, clustered layouts, predefined spatial arrangements).
• Search & Filtering: Functionality to search for specific ideologies or filter the view based on categories.
• User Input: Allow users to (privately) place themselves on the map or compare different viewpoints.
• Multiple Dimensions: Representing ideology across more than just one or two axes.

Setup

1. Clone the repository: git clone https://github.com/calderwong/ideology-visualizer.git

2. Navigate to the directory: cd ideology-visualizer

3. Open the index.html file directly in your web browser.

   Note: For features involving data loading (future), running a simple local web server might be necessary due to browser security restrictions (CORS). python -m http.server or similar.

Usage

Currently, simply open index.html to view the static visualization.

[Usage instructions will be updated as interactive features are added]

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues to suggest features, report bugs, or improve the documentation.

(Placeholder - specific contribution guidelines can be added later)