Portrait of Stephen Harper
From history

Stephen Harper

Prime Minister of Canada, 2006 to 2015

Led Canada's Conservatives through the financial crisis with tax cuts and a tougher stance on crime.

Stephen Harper sits in the right-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: strongly free market and leaning authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly free market on economy, leaning strength-first on war and peace and leaning traditional on culture.

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Where Stephen Harper sits on eight dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this leader's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyStrongly free market
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityLeaning authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationLeaning nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentLeaning growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceLeaning strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning institutional
Anti-establishmentInstitutional

Leaders most like Stephen Harper

John Howard Prime Minister of Australia, 1996 to 200791%Shinzo Abe Prime Minister of Japan, 2006 to 2007 and 2012 to 202088%Christopher Luxon Prime Minister of New Zealand, 2023 to present88%Friedrich Merz Chancellor of Germany, 2025 to present87%George W. Bush US President, 2001 to 200984%Ulf Kristersson Prime Minister of Sweden, 2022 to present (caretaker since September 2026)84%

Leaders furthest from Stephen Harper

Mahatma Gandhi Leader of the Indian independence movement11%José Mujica President of Uruguay, 2010 to 201518%Leon Trotsky Soviet revolutionary and founder of the Red Army19%

Political views closest to Stephen Harper

NeoconservatismPairs free markets and traditional values with an assertive, democracy-promoting foreign…85%Thatcherism and ReaganismFree-market economics, tax cuts, deregulation and a firm stance toward the Soviet Union.77%Hawkish realismSees the world as a contest between states, where military strength and alliances secure…77%

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all eight dimensions. Including a person here is for historical study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: World Economic Forum / Remy Steinegger, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.