Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Above Ideology?

''She is the only Dutch politician who is completely outside our left-right continuum.'' - pollster Maurice de Hond about the controversial Dutch feminist, who says she seeks to disrupt Holland's political classifications

In its edition a couple days ago, Amsterdam News (New York) argued that Judge Janice Rogers Brown "is also the prototype for Ayaan Hirsi Ali of the Netherlands. Race is the centerpiece of the New World Order." That quote caught our attention, since it is the first mention of MP Hirsi Ali that we have seen in mainstream black American media. It is very possible that MP Hirsi Ali has never even heard of Judge Brown, the California Supreme Court who was recently confirmed to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals and may become America's first black woman on the Supreme Court some day. Nor has MP Hirsi Ali ever mentioned her as an influence in any interview that we have read or heard. Yet this odd statement reminded us of the original Amsterdam across the pond, and Mr. de Hond's comment. We have not seen a breakdown of Ayaan Hirsi Ali's views (at least in English), so we have attempted to do so here. Based on views that we have read or heard from MP Hirsi Ali, is she completely outside the left-right continuum? Our research shows: no.

Fiscal Moderate
MP Hirsi Ali is 50% liberal (or left) and 50% conservative on fiscal issues, so a fiscal moderate. She supports government funds for the arts, and a progressive contribution structure for nations who are part of European Union. However, she also believes that welfare benefits are too high in Holland, and opposes government subsidies of Islamic mosques, schools and clubs. Her center-right party, Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie, is a pro-free-market party so this makes sense. While her economic libertarian quotient is 50%, no one would confuse MP Hirsi Ali for economists Milton Friedman or Walter Williams here re: small government on economic issues.

Social Moderate, With High Libertarian Streak
This is the arena where MP Hirsi Ali is most unpredictable and is probably the focus of Mr. du Hond's comments. Her rating is 40% liberal, 27% conservative, and 33% we couldn't classify, so socially moderate overall. She has gotten criticism on the left and the right - even within her own political party - for certain views in this arena. MP Hirsi Ali is pro-choice on abortion, supports gay rights, supports 'positive discrimination' (known as affirmative action in USA) for women, and believes that an obsession with sexual morality has crippled Muslims. She would abolish religious schools, and use state power to forcibly integrate Holland's increasingly segregated schools and neighborhoods. However, her conservative side comes up as a staunch critic of multiculturalism, critic of victimology rhetoric, her belief that cultural differences and not racism mostly explain different employment rates in Holland, and her staunch defense of Western values. As many people across the ideological spectrum hold similar views, we couldn't classify her opposition to female and male circumcision, haranging health authorities to examine schoolgirls for evidence of genital mutilation, her status as a champion of free speech, support for immigration but also assimilation of immigrants into Dutch society, and support for strict separation of church and state (which definitely cuts across the ideological spectrum in Europe). Her social libertarian quotient is relatively high (67%) - which probably explains why Libertarian.nl, a major Dutch libertarian website, discusses her at times - and would be even higher but for her support for government intervention in several areas.

Foreign Policy Neo-Conservative
MP Hirsi Ali has 71% conservative rating on foreign policy issues. She supports the War On Terrorism and the war in Iraq, opposes Turkey's ascension to the European Union, is pro-Israel, and is one of Europe's most vociferous critics of Islamism. We were unable to find any liberal positions from her in this arena, although 29% of her views are unclassifiable: she supports the European Union constitution, and supports E.U. power to crack down on 'honor' killings on the continent. Given her strong belief that spreading democracy helps her goals to reform Islam and promote women's rights in the Muslim world, she and paleo-conservative Patrick Buchanan would be at major odds here. However, she and Secretary Condoleezza Rice (who is also a foreign policy hawk but social moderate with high libertarian streak...although, unlike MP Hirsi Ali, Condi is a fiscal conservative) would hang here. MP Hirsi Ali only has a 12% libertarian quotient on foreign policy issues, but a 42% quotient as a neo-libertarian.

Aggregating the three arenas, MP Hirsi Ali winds up in the moderate-conservative zone: 49% conservative, 30% liberal, and 21% can't classify. So slightly too right to be a moderate, especially since there is a 19-point gap between her conservative and liberal positions. But also too left to be firmly placed into the conservative camp, especially with her views on quite a few social issues that are anathema to many conservatives. With the libertarian overlay across the three arenas, she scores 43% libertarian overall but 53% overall as a neo-libertarian. While forceful in her views, MP Hirsi Ali prides herself on being able to forge coalitions to push forward her agenda. ''I may polarize on television and on the op-ed pages but in Parliament, I always get my majority”, she said in one media interview, proud that virtually all of her legislative bills and motions have passed in the Tweede Kamer.

Her mix of fiscal and social moderatism, and foreign policy neo-conservatism is almost unique among most prominent feminists. There is no living prominent American feminist who has a similar mix (the late Susan Moller Okin, one influence on MP Hirsi Ali, shared many of her views on multiculturalism and how it can reinforce oppression against women). Other than perhaps Norway's Hege Storhaug, we can think of no European feminists here.

While not like her - she is to her left on both fiscal and especially social issues - what MP Hirsi Ali shares with Judge Brown is an aversion to victimology rhetoric and status as a black contrarian in their respective countries. But no, MP Hirsi Ali is not above ideology but you see a pattern when you view her through a neo-libertarian or "progressive conservative" lense. And given increasing troubles on the European continent, we may see more European feminists and even gay activists - who see increased attacks from Muslims as a threat to their freedom - come to the maverick politician's side.