Political ideologies in the United States

In the United States, modern conservatism coalesced in the latter half of the 20th century, responding over time to the political and social change associated with events such as the Great Depression, tension with the Soviet Union in the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the counterculture of the 1960s, the deregulation of the economy in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the overthrow of the New Deal coalition in the 1980s and the terrorist threat of the 21st century. Some of the most supported political issues among conservatives are economic liberalism, fiscal conservatism and a form of social conservatism that is more appealing to the Christian right.

The word "conservative" comes from "conserve", hence describing those who generally wish to conserve the status quo, conserve morality, or conserve money. Views on individual policies vary among different sub-groups. Overall, a majority of conservatives support tax-cuts and other laissez-faire (reduced governmental interference) policies, oppose same-sex marriage, oppose abortion, oppose stricter gun control laws on the grounds of the Second Amendment and public safety and favor increased military spending as opposed to other federal expenditures. Conservatives tend to favor racial color-blindness and oppose affirmative action/positive discrimination quotas. Nationalist conservatives are more likely to allow torture on suspected terrorists for interrogation while some social conservatives oppose secularism and atheism in public schools. Conservatives tend to favor state governments over the federal, reserving the federal for matters of national security.

Roughly one third of the American public self-identify as conservative. Conservatives commonly outnumber liberals in the general public with both ideological groupings being outnumbered by centrists.[11] The military–industrial complex in particular remains a conservative bastion.[18][19] A 2003 survey by the Military Times found that the "military considers itself clearly more conservative and Republican". In a December 2006 poll, 46% of active personnel identified as Republican, down from 60% in 2004.[20] In the 2000, 2004 and 2006 elections CNN exit polls found that roughly 80% of self-described conservatives voted Republican.[13][14][15]

A study by the Pew Research Center, where research assigned typological classifications based on responses to policy and ideological questions, found that a significant percentage of Democratic voters were social conservatives who only voted for the Democratic Party due to their more left-leaning economic methods as well as their longtime affiliation with the party, especially among Dixiecrats and blacks. This study divided conservatives into four groups: Enterprisers, Social Conservatives, Pro-Government Conservatives and Conservative Democrats. Of the conservative groups, Conservative Democrats were the most common typological group comprising 14% of respondents while Enterprisers and Pro-Government Conservatives were the least common among the conservative groups at 9%. Enterprisers had the second highest percentage of college graduates (46%) behind Liberals and were tied with Liberals percentage wise on those who have household incomes of $75,000 or more (41%) while actually having a higher percentage of people who have household incomes of $50,000 or more (62%). All conservative demographics were religious, with less than 10% of respondents identifying as "secular", compared to 22% among liberals.[6]

The value gaps for the GOP are, perhaps surprisingly, greatest with respect to the role of government. The Republicans' bigger tent now includes more lower-income voters than it once did, and many of these voters favor an activist government to help working class people. Government regulation to protect the environment is an issue with particular potential to divide Republicans. On this issue, wide divisions exist both within the GOP and among right-of-center voters more generally... Yet Republicans also have much in common beyond their overwhelming support for a muscular foreign policy and broad agreement on social issues. – Pew Research Center, 2005[6]

Opinions of liberals in a 2005 Pew Research Center study[21]

Liberalism in the United States is most commonly characterized by the modern mixture of social liberalism and progressivism, with a strong (if frequently unrecognized) ordoliberal streak. Less frequently, it may also describe forms of classic and neoliberalism. Liberals in the United States advocate strong civil liberties and social progressivism according to which societal practices need to be changed whenever necessary for the greater good of society or the benefits of those who wish to engage in those social arrangements. They believe that government action is needed in order for people to be as free as possible. Government must thereby ensure the provision of positive rights, protect civil liberties and ensure equality. American liberals commonly reject both laissez-faire capitalism and socialism as means to distribute economic resources. A mixed economy, that is a capitalist free market economy with limited government regulation and intervention, is seen as the ideal. Recently, there has been a strong movement among liberals against corporate welfare, which is generally favored by pro-government conservatives. Cultural pluralism is quite common among American liberals.[9]

Liberalism wagers that a state... can be strong but constrained – strong because constrained... Rights to education and other requirements for human development and security aim to advance equal opportunity and personal dignity and to promote a creative and productive society. To guarantee those rights, liberals have supported a wider social and economic role for the state, counterbalanced by more robust guarantees of civil liberties and a wider social system of checks and balances anchored in an independent press and pluralistic society. – Paul Starr, sociologist at Princeton University, The New Republic, March 2007

According to the Pew Research Center, liberals are particularly distinguished from any other typographic group by their socially progressive viewpoints. In 2004, liberals were the only group to advocate same sex marriage and euthanasia, policies regarded as to the left of the Democratic Party. Among the most prominent liberal periodicals are The Nation, The American Prospect and The New Republic. The New Republic described its political standing, giving a brief overview of contemporary American liberalism, in a June 2006 editorial stating it was "very much against the Bush tax programs, against Bush Social Security 'reform,' against cutting the inheritance tax, for radical health care changes, passionate about Gore-type environmentalism, for a woman's entitlement to an abortion, for gay marriage, for an increase in the minimum wage, for pursuing aggressively alternatives to our present reliance on oil and our present tax preferences for gas-guzzling automobiles".[22]

[Liberals are] Predominantly white (83%), most highly educated group (49% have a college degree or more), and youngest group after Bystanders. Least religious group in typology: 43% report they seldom or never attend religious services; nearly a quarter (22%) are seculars. More than one-third never married (36%). Largest group residing in urban areas (42%) and in the western half the country (34%). Wealthiest Democratic group (41% earn at least $75,000). – Pew Research Center

Roughly 19% to 26% of the American public is liberal depending on survey and method.[11] Liberals vote mostly in favor of the Democratic Party, constituting roughly 43% of the Democratic base.[6][13][14][15] Liberalism tends to be most prominent in academia and among those with higher levels of education.[23] In 2004, 72% of full-time faculty members at four-year colleges identified as liberal.[24] In a 2004 survey of 1,000 economists, registered Democrats outnumbered registered Republicans by a 2.5 to 1 ratio. The majority of economists favored "safety regulations, gun control, redistribution, public schooling, and anti-discrimination laws" while opposing "tighter immigration controls, government ownership of enterprise and tariffs".[25] Among sociologists and anthropologists, Democrats outnumber Republicans 20 to 1.[26]

Over the past decades, the political outlook of Americans has become more progressive, with those below the age of thirty being considerably more liberal than the overall population. According to recent polls, 56% of those age 18 to 29 favor gay marriage, 68% state environmental protection to be as important as job creation, 52% "think immigrants 'strengthen the country with their hard work and talents'", 62% favor a "tax financed, government-administrated universal health care" program and 74% "say 'people's will' should have more influence on U.S. laws than the Bible, compared to 37%, 49%, 38%, 47% and 58% among the general population.[27]

[Enterprisers are] Predominantly white (91%), male (76%) and financially well-off (62% have household incomes of at least $50,000, compared with 40% nationwide). Nearly half (46%) have a college degree, and 77% are married. Nearly a quarter (23%) are themselves military veterans. Only 10% are under age 30. – Pew Research Center, 2005

[Social Conservatives are] Predominantly white (91%), female (58%) and the oldest of all groups (average age is 52; 47% are 50 or older); nearly half live in the South. Most (53%) attend church weekly; 43% are white evangelical Protestants (double the national average of 21%). – Pew Research Center, 2005

[Pro-Government Conservatives are] predominantly female (62%) and relatively young; highest percentage of minority members of any Republican-leaning group (10% black, 12% Hispanic). Most (59%) have no more than a high school diploma. Poorer than other Republican groups; nearly half (49%) have household incomes of less than $30,000 (about on par with Disadvantaged Democrats). Nearly half (47%) are parents of children living at home; 42% live in the South. – Pew Research Center, 2005

Older women and blacks make up a sizeable proportion of [Conservative Democrats] (27% and 30%, respectively). Somewhat less educated and poorer than the nation overall. Allegiance to the Democratic Party is quite strong (51% describe themselves as "strong" Democrats) but fully 85% describe themselves as either conservative or moderate ideologically. – Pew Research Center, 2005

It is also shown by the Pew Research Center that conservatives tend to have stronger belief in personal empowerment than liberals. Among the wealthiest and most educated group of conservatives, the Enterprisers, 95% believed that most people can get ahead in life if they work hard. Despite having similar income and education levels, only 53% of Liberals agreed with Enterprisers on the issue while 39% disagreed and another 5% refused to answer.[28] Even among the poorest and least educated groups of both the conservatives (the Pro-Government Conservatives) and the left-wing (the Disadvantaged Democrats), these differences in opinion about personal empowerment are apparent. While 74% of Pro-Government Conservatives believed that people can get ahead with hard work, only 14% of Disadvantaged Democrats agreed while 79% disagreed and the other 7% refused to answer.[29]

The socially progressive Liberals and staunchly conservative Enterprisers are tied as the two most affluent groups while Liberals are the most educated. Liberals have a slightly higher percentage of college graduates than Enterprisers (49% of versus 46% of Enterprisers). Bystanders, those who chose not to participate in the political process, have the least percentage of college graduates (11%) and are tied with Disadvantaged Democrats as the most financially distressed.[6]

Generally, education and affluence increase the chances of an individual to be politically active. The professional class, which is relatively evenly divided among Democrats and Republicans,[16] is among the most politically active[30] while those in the lower class (the working poor and underclass) commonly abstain from taking part in the political process.[31] The working class has become less politically active partially due to a decline in the prevalence of labor unions.[32] As a result, the American electorate is considerably more affluent and educated than the general population. In the 2006 mid-term elections, for example, those with graduate degrees, who constitute 9% of the general population age 25 or older, comprised 16% of the electorate.[15] All sizable socio-economic groups were relatively split between the two major parties in the 2000, 2004 and 2006 elections.[13][14][15]

Up to the undergraduate level, education increased a person's chances of him or her voting Republican. The contradiction is explained through moderate voters who tend to become more conservative as they become more economically prosperous.[6] At the post-graduate level, liberals outnumber conservatives and a majority commonly votes Democratic.[13][14][15]

Ideological groups are distinguished by certain societal attributes, such as religion, marital status, education and gun ownership, yet are relatively similar in terms of race and ethnicity. Generally, liberals were more likely to be secular, single and in possession of a college degree while less likely to own a gun. Conservatives, most of whom adhere to social as well as fiscal conservatism, tended to be more religious and more likely to be married, employed and own firearms.

The majority of Social Conservatives and Pro-Government Conservatives attended church services once a week. Weekly churchgoers were also in the plurality among the general population and all ideological demographics, except liberals. Of liberals, a plurality, 43% attended church services "seldom or never", compared to 25% of respondents overall. Conservatives were also more likely to be married than Liberals or the Democratic voter base in general. Finally, 77% of Enterprisers were married, compared to 44% of Liberals.

Disadvantaged and Conservative Democrats had the highest union membership rates at 23% and 18% (compared to an overall 14%, respectively) as well as the highest percentage of minorities (Disadvantaged Democrats 55% Black, Hispanic and Other; Conservative Democrats 46% Black, Hispanic and Other). In terms of gun ownership, the majority of Enterprisers and Social Conservatives had a gun at home, compared to just 23% of Liberals. Liberals were the most educated group with 49% being college graduates compared to an average of 26.5% among all the conservative groups (including the Democratic voting Conservative Democrats). Disadvantaged Democrats were the least educated, with only 13% having a college degree.

In terms of race, conservatives and liberals were fairly similar, with more than 80% identifying as white and having been born in the United States. However, Republican voting conservatives like Enterprisers, Social Conservatives and Pro-Government Conservatives had a higher white percentage than liberals, especially Enterprisers and Social Conservatives, who were both 91% white, compared to 83% of Liberals. Liberals were also the most likely of every group to be born outside of the United States, with 20% of liberal respondents saying that they or their parents were born outside of the United States while only around 12% of all conservative types answered "yes" to the same question.[21]

Data are from the Pew Research Center's 2017 Political Typology survey:[7]