The Washington Post - USA (2021-11-11)

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A6 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 , 2021


BY DAN BALZ,
SCOTT CLEMENT
AND EMILY GUSKIN

The simple description of
American politics today is that of
a battle between red vs. blue. But
a major new report highlights
just how much Republicans and
Democrats are driven by faction-
alism and issue differences with-
in their own coalitions — even as
some Americans remain alienat-
ed from the two major parties and
the public square.
The Pew Research Center study
divides the electorate into nine
groups — four Republican, four
Democratic and a disparate and
disaffected group that does not fit
well into either party’s coalition.
Republicans are divided over
former president Donald Trump,
who continues to dominate as the
public face of his party 10 months
after leaving office. Members of
all GOP groups heavily backed
Trump in 2020, but they part
ways on his future role. Majorities
in just two of the four GOP groups
— albeit the largest ones — want
him to run again in 2024, and only
one of the four groups rates him
as the best president of the past
40 years. For two other Republi-
can groups, that accolade goes to
former president Ronald Reagan,
while the fourth group is divided
between Reagan and Trump.
The study also illustrated the
dividing line that race represents
in American politics. No more
than a quarter of any of the four
predominantly White GOP
groups say “a lot” more needs to
be done to guarantee equal rights
for all Americans regardless of
their racial or ethnic background.
And clear majorities of all Repub-
lican-oriented groups reject the
concept of White privilege, saying
that White people do not benefit
much or at all from advantages in
society that Black people lack.
But more than 7 in 10 of each
Democratic group, far more di-
verse than their counterparts, say
much more needs to be done to
reach the objective of equal
rights. They a lso generally share a
belief that White people benefit
from advantages in society that
Black people do not.
“Perhaps no issue is more divi-
sive than racial injustice in the
U.S.,” the report states.
Still, among Democrats, there
are large differences over how to
solve the problem they see, with
some saying the necessary prog-
ress can be achieved working
within the existing system while
others say that “most laws and
major institutions need to be
completely rebuilt.”
The Pew study, the eighth such
analysis the polling operation has
done since 198 7 and this year
based on responses from more
than 10,000 adults, in some ways
reinforced a sense of stability in
party coalitions but with underly-
ing dissent.
Republicans and Democrats
differ on the size and scope of
government, a long-standing gulf
between the parties. Democrats
collectively favor more and bigger
government but are divided
among themselves on whether
services should be “greatly” ex-
panded, with a clear majority of
the most progressive group in the
party saying yes compared with
about one-third of the other Dem-
ocratic groups agreeing.
Republicans, too, are divided
on aspects of economic policy.
While most Republican groups
are consistently conservative on
fiscal issues, one with a more
populist bent dissents on the is-
sue of corporate power, saying
“business corporations make too
much profit” and favoring higher
taxes on those with household
incomes above $400,000. This
puts them closer to many Demo-
crats than to most in their own
party.
The study finds both parties
have a tenuous hold on the young-
est segments of their coalitions, a
pattern that echoes younger
Americans’ broad skepticism
about parties and politics.
Pew breaks down Republicans
into the following groups: Faith
and Flag Conservatives, Commit-
ted Conservatives, Populist Right
and Ambivalent Right. The four
groups making up the Democrat-
ic coalition are: Progressive Left,
Establishment Liberals, Demo-
cratic Mainstays and Outsider
Left.
The ninth group carries the
label of Stressed Sideliners,
whose members are not ideologi-
cally cohesive and therefore are a
part of each party’s coalition.
What binds them together is that
they are among the most finan-
cially troubled Americans and the
least engaged politically.
The largest of the Democratic
groups are the Democratic Main-
stays, accounting for 28 percent
of Democrats and Democratic-
leaning independents. Of the four
groups, they alone mostly identify
themselves as moderates, and
they hold less liberal views on
immigration, crime and the mili-


tary. They are older and less well-
educated than other groups and
they are the most racially diverse.
They were among Biden’s stron-
gest supporters in the 2020 Dem-

ocratic nomination contest.
Black voters are far more likely
to be Democratic Mainstays or in
a second group called Establish-
ment Liberals than any other.

Three in 4 Democratic Mainstays
say they are religiously affiliated
and over one-third say practicing
their religious faith is one of the
most important things in their
lives.
The Establishment Liberals
are nearly as large, making up 23
percent of Democrats. The Pew
study characterizes them as liber-
al, racially diverse, generally opti-
mistic and open to compromise.
They c urrently are among Biden’s
strongest supporters, and also
contributed to his victory in the
party contests last year.
These Democrats are more
likely to support “more measured
approaches to societal change”
even though they are liberal and
agree with other Democrats that
much more needs to be done to
bring about racial justice and
equal treatment for all. This
group looks like the party as a
whole: more women than men;
about half White, nearly 1 in 5
Black, 1 in 5 Hispanic and 1 in 10
Asian. They make up 23 percent
of the Democrats.
The third-largest group of
Democrats are labeled Outsider
Left. They are the youngest of the
groups, liberal in their views —
but, Pew says, many are discon-
tented with the political system
and the Democratic Party. Only
about a third see themselves as
Democrats while half are inde-
pendents who lean Democratic.
They are also less likely to vote
than other Democratic groups.
They make up 16 percent of the
Democratic coalition.
The final party group, Progres-
sive Left Democrats, are highly
engaged politically and very liber-
al in their views. They tend to be
younger and highly educated. In
the 2020 Democratic primaries,
they were more likely to support
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) or Sen.
Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) than
Biden. They are the only group of
Democrats who like politicians
who identify themselves as demo-
cratic socialists, as Sanders and
several younger House members
do. Roughly two-thirds are non-
Hispanic Whites and about half
have no religious affiliation. They
make up about 12 percent of
Americans who identify as Demo-
crats or lean toward the Demo-
cratic Party.
Two groups are tied in size as
the largest segments of the Re-
publican coalition.
Pew describes Faith and Flag
Conservatives as “highly reli-
gious, politically engaged and
both socially and economically
conservative.” They prefer a
smaller role for government and a
“more robust role” for religion in

the public debates. And they not
only supported Trump in big
numbers, but more than 8 in 10
say he should remain a major
national political figure and 55
percent want him to run for presi-
dent in 2024.
They have the biggest share of
evangelical Christians — more
than 4 in 10 — and strongly
oppose abortion and same-sex
marriage. They are the only GOP
group in which a majority says
legalization of same-sex marriage
is bad for the country, and the
only group in which a majority
says government policies should
support religious values and be-
liefs. Along with the Populist
Right, they favor increasing the
size of the U.S. military.
On racial issues, they see con-
siderable discrimination against
White people and think Whites
benefit “not at a ll” from advantag-
es that Blacks do not have. A
majority say more attention to the
history of slavery is bad for the
country. T hey are the oldest of the
groups and make up 23 percent of
the GOP.
Making up the same percent-
age are Populist Right Republi-
cans, who are very conservative
on most issues but also look more
skeptically at the economic sys-
tem than other Republican
groups. They are described as
hard-liners on immigration, for
example, with nearly half saying
the number of legal immigrants
should be decreased. They also
have a very negative view toward
government. But more than 8 in
10 say large corporations have
had a negative impact on the
country and more than half favor
higher taxes on the wealthy.
They are overwhelmingly
White in their makeup, include
more women than men and are
less likely to be college graduates
than in other GOP groups. Of all
the groups in either party, they
are more likely to say that Whites
becoming a declining share of the
U.S. population is bad for society.
The Populist Right are also firmly
in Trump’s camp, saying by a
10-point margin that he was the
best president in the past four
decades, with 57 percent saying
he should run again in 2024.
Those in a third group, the
Ambivalent Right, share some
characteristics with Democrats in
the Outsider Left. They too are
younger and, as Pew notes, “polit-
ically cross-pressured” including
being more likely to support le-
galizing recreational marijuana
and legal abortion than other
GOP groups. The group is mostly
Republican, but some Democrats
are included. They f eel ignored by

the Democratic Party but are split
about 50-50 on whether the Re-
publican Party represents their
views.
They are the most racially di-
verse of the Republican-leaning
groups, with about 3 in 10 either
Hispanic, Black or Asian. Unlike
other Republican groups, more
feel coldly toward Trump than
warmly, with 21 percent saying
they want him to run for presi-
dent again. They make up 18
percent of the GOP.
The final Republican group,
Committed Conservatives, are
highly conservative on most is-
sues and tend to reflect the party’s
traditional pro-business atti-
tudes, including support for in-
ternational trade. They are more
moderate on immigration than
the two most conservative groups
and a bit more moderate on some
racial issues, but not approaching
the views of those in the Demo-
cratic groups.
They are less likely than Faith
and Flag Conservatives or the
Populist Right to favor a signifi-
cant role for Trump in national
politics going forward. Commit-
ted Conservatives also are less apt
to look kindly on GOP officials
who buy into Trump’s false claim
that he was the legitimate winner
of the 2020 election. They make
up 15 percent of Republicans and
Republican leaners.
The least partisan voters in the
survey seem to occupy the middle
ground — but they are not neces-
sarily moderates. Stressed Side-
liners turned out in lower num-
bers in 2020 — a mere 45 percent
voted compared with an average
of 72 percent across other groups.
The group split its vote, 49 per-
cent for Trump and 48 percent for
Biden. Fewer than half of them
say it really matters which party
wins in 2022.
But they account for about 1 in
7 registered voters, which makes
the group bigger than the Pro-
gressive Left, Outsider Left, Com-
mitted Conservatives or Faith and
Flag Conservatives. They lean to
the left on economic issues and to
the right on social issues.
The typology study was pri-
marily based on a survey of 10,
adults conducted July 8-18 with
Pew’s American Trends Panel, an
ongoing panel recruited through
national, random sampling of
residential addresses. The mar-
gin of sampling error for overall
results is plus or minus 1.5 per-
centage points; the error margin
for typology groups ranges from
3.9 points to 5.4 points.
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Survey explores factions within major political parties


Most in Democratic groups say that government
should do more, while most Republican groups say
government is doing too much

Q: Which statement comes closer to your own view, even if neither
is exactly right?

Government should do more to solve problems Government is doing too

U.S. adults overall

Faith and Flag Conservatives

Committed Conservatives

Populist Right

Ambivalent Right

Stressed Sideliners

Democratic Mainstays

Establishment Liberals

55% 44

12 88

13 87

22 77

32 67

57 43

75 23

80 18

88 9

98

Note: "No opinion" not shown.
Source: April 5-11, 2021 Pew Research Center poll of
5,109 U.S. adults. EMILY GUSKIN/THE W ASHINGTON POST

Partisans divide sharply on how much change is
needed to ensure racial equality

Q: How much more, if anything, needs to be done to ensure equal rights for all
Americans regardless of their racial or ethnic backgrounds?
If "a lot": Which comes closer to your view...

A lot: Most laws/institutions need to be completely rebuilt A lot: Necessary
changes can be made by working within the current systems Little/nothing
needs to be done

U.S. adults overall

Establishment Liberals

Democratic Mainstays

Stressed Sideliners

Ambivalent Right

Populist Right

Committed Conservatives

Faith and Flag Conservatives

25% 24 49

71 24

29 43 27

38 39 21

63 23 13

21 30 48

715 77

615 77

10 84

96

Note: "No opinion" not shown. Full response options for which comes closer
question: "Most U.S. laws and major institutions need to be completely rebuilt
because they are fundamentally biased against some racial and ethnic groups" or
"While there are many inequalities in U.S. laws and institutions, necessary
changes can be made by working within the current system."
Source: July 8-18, 2021, Pew Research Center poll of
10,221 U.S. adults. EMILY GUSKIN/THE W ASHINGTON POST

How Americans divide in Pew's 2021 political typology


Progressive
Left

Faith &
Flag
conserv.

Establishment
Liberals

Democratic
Mainstays

Outsider
Left

Stressed
Sideliners

Ambivalent
Right

Populist
Right

Committed
Conservatives

U.S. adults overall

Reps/Rep leaners

Dems/Dem leaners

6% 13 16 10 15 12 11 710

31518231523

12 23 28 16 13 6

Note: Reps/Rep leaners are Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. Dems/Dem leaners are Democrats and
Democratic-leaning independents.
Source: July 8-18, 2021, Pew Research Center poll of 10,221 U.S. adults. EMILY GUSKIN/THE WASHINGTON POST

JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
President Donald Trump delivers his State of the Union address in February 2020. Republicans are divided over the former president’s future role, according to a new survey.
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