Whether political power should be concentrated in a single centre, or dispersed among many independent bodies.
What the two poles mean
Centralised
A score toward 0 means you lean strongly toward centralised. On this axis, positions near this pole reflect the priorities described above.
Decentralised
A score toward 100 means you lean strongly toward decentralised. On this axis, positions near this pole reflect the priorities described above.
A common misconception
Favouring decentralisation is not the same as being anti-government. It is a question of scale: should power sit in one centre or spread across many bodies?
People often confuse decentralisation with libertarianism. But you can favour strong, active government and still want that government to be local — schools run by municipalities, policing by regions, planning by communities. The centralisation axis is orthogonal to how much government you want; it is about where decisions should live.
Likewise, favouring centralisation does not mean you want a single all-powerful ruler. It usually means you believe uniform national standards prevent inequality and chaos: one set of rules for education, health and infrastructure is fairer and more efficient than fifty different local approaches.
How it relates to the other axes
Centralisation is closely related to federalism, which asks the same question specifically about regions and the centre.
Where you stand
Find out where you stand on this axis — and the other 15 — by taking the 16 Values Test. It is free, anonymous and takes about five minutes.