Political Neutrality
CLCI Hub rates control patterns in political and ideological groups using the same BITE criteria as religious, wellness, or online groups. We do not rate political ideologies as such. This page documents what political neutrality means in practice and how the catalogue handles the unavoidable difficulty of writing about ideologically charged groups.
What we rate
Documented coercive control mechanisms: information control, thought-stopping practices, leader dependency, isolation pressure, financial extraction, exit costs, and the modifiers reflecting court findings or formal reform. These are the same axes applied across the catalogue, regardless of the group's political colour.
What we do not rate
- The lawfulness or moral standing of any political opinion.
- The truth or falsity of any political ideology.
- Mainstream political participation, even where intense or unpopular.
- Activism, lobbying, or campaigning as such — these are normal democratic activities.
- Strong opinions, partisan affiliation, or vocal disagreement with majority views.
Symmetry across the political spectrum
High-control patterns appear in groups of every political colour. The catalogue includes groups identified by external observers as far-left, far-right, separatist, accelerationist, and post-political. The criteria do not change based on the group's stated politics. A group's CLCI score reflects documented conduct, not whether the editor would vote for the group's candidate of choice.
Why some politically-charged groups are listed
We include political/ideological entries where documented public-source evidence shows BITE-style coercive practices: not because we disagree with the group's politics, but because the structural patterns match those documented in religious and wellness contexts. The category designation 'Political / Ideological' reflects how external observers have classified the group, not an editorial verdict on the politics.
Where political neutrality is harder to maintain
- Groups where the only sources are partisan media — these tend to receive low confidence ratings.
- Groups whose stated politics are widely opposed by mainstream observers — we are careful to distinguish editorial opinion of those observers from documented BITE-style conduct.
- Groups where one side of a political dispute treats the other side as inherently coercive — we require documented BITE-style practices, not contested political characterisation, for inclusion.
What we ask of readers
- Do not treat CLCI scores as endorsements or condemnations of political positions.
- Do not use CLCI content to dismiss political views you disagree with.
- Where you believe the catalogue has political-neutrality problems with a specific entry, use the corrections route with sourced specifics.