William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

WHAT DO

THE FACTS

S AY?

Are the

American People

Polarized?

Many commentators describe

politics in America as highly

conflictual, with most Americans

holding either liberal or

conservative points of view and

identifying with one of the two

major parties. Is polarization as

strong as these commentators

think?

Sources: Data from General Social Survey

1972–2016, Cumulative Datafile, Survey

Documentation and Analysis (SDA) at UC

Berkeley, http://sda.berkeley.edu (accessed

11/0/17); Pew Research Center, “Trends in Party

Identification, 1939–2016,” September 6, 2016,

http://www.people-press.org (accessed 11/7/17); Pew

Research Center, “Political Typology Reveals

Deep Fissures on the Right and Left,” October

26, 2017, http://www.people-press.org (accessed

11/7/17).

20

0

40

60

80%

1970 1980 1990 2000

Moderates

Conservatives

Liberals

2010 2018

Country-First Conservatives (oppose immigration and U.S. involvement abroad, prefer smaller

government and lower taxes, conservative on social issues)

New Era Enterprisers (pro-business, pro-immigration, liberal on social issues)

Bystanders (on the sidelines)

Devout and Diverse (critical of government regulation, religious, conservative on

social issues)

Disaected Democrats (support activist government and social safety net,

but believe government is ineicient and wasteful)

Opportunity Democrats (less aluent, less politically engaged, less liberal)

Solid Liberals (liberal on most issues)

02468101214 16%

Reliable Republicans

Less partisan, less predictable

Reliable Democrats

Core Conservatives (pro-trade, pro-immigration, prefer smaller government

and lower taxes, moderate on social issues)

Market-Skeptic Republicans (smaller government overall, but more regulation

of business)

Political Typology

• According to the top
  figure, how have levels
  of polarization changed
  since the 1970s?


• What does the political
  typology reveal about
  divisions within each
  political party?

Think about it

Republican

29 %

Democrat

33 %

Independent

34 %

Other

4%

Party Identification in America

Liberal or Conservative Ideology in America

What Americans think about politics 221

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