Gallup Poll: More Americans Say They Are ‘Very Conservative’

More Americans (38%) say they are very conservative or conservative on social issues this year than they were in 2022 (33%) and 2021 (30%). At the same time, the percentage who self-identify as very liberal or liberal has dropped to 29% from 34% in the past two years, while the percentage who identify as moderate (31%) remains close to a third, all from a Gallup political poll.

The last time such a large number of Americans said they were socially conservative was in 2012, during a time when more and more US adults identified themselves as conservative rather than liberal on social issues.

The findings are based on Gallup's annual Values ​​and Beliefs survey, conducted May 1-24. The survey comes at a time when many states are considering policies on transgender, abortion, crime, drug use, and gender and sexuality education in schools.

The increase in conservative identification on social issues over the past two years has been seen across nearly all political and demographic subgroups. Republicans see one of the largest increases, going from 60% in 2021 to the current 74%. Independents see a modest increase of five percentage points, from 24% to 29%, while among Democrats there has been no change (10% in both 2021 and 2023).

Since 2021, conservative social ideology has increased by double digits among middle-aged adults (30-64 years old). At the same time, the social ideology of older Americans has remained stable, while there has been a modest increase in conservative social ideology among young adults.

Economic conservatism is also on the rise

When Americans are asked to describe their views on economic issues, 44% identify as very conservative or conservative, 33% moderate, and 21% very liberal or liberal. The percentage of self-identified conservatives averaged 40% between 2020 and 2022. The current figure is the highest since 46% in 2012.

Americans have always been more likely to say they are conservative on economic issues than liberal, by as much as 16 percentage points (in 2021).

During the poll period, President Joe Biden and Congress discussed legislation to raise the federal debt ceiling and cut federal spending.

Americans have been more likely to identify as economically conservative rather than liberal because Republicans report themselves to be majority conservative, while Democrats are not majority liberal. In 2023, 79% of Republicans will identify as conservative on economic issues, while 48% of Democrats will identify as liberal. Furthermore, independents who identify as economic conservatives outnumber (36%) than liberals (16%). About half of the independents declare themselves moderate on economic issues.

The ideology of apartments to parties on economic issues has remained constant in recent years. By contrast, modest shifts in economic ideology among national adults are driven by small shifts in party political identification among U.S. adults (from an average of 29% Republican and 32% Democrat in 2020 and 2021 polls to 30% Republican and 29% Democrat in the 2023 poll).

In summary

For most of the past eight years, Americans were equally likely to declare themselves liberal and conservative on social issues. This year, the Conservatives' lead is more evident. The change is mainly due to the rise of social conservatism among Republicans, at a time when social issues such as transgender rights, abortion and other burning issues are prominent in the national public debate.

Greater social conservatism could foster a more favorable environment for the approval of conservative social laws, especially in states with a Republican majority. In the last year, in fact, many Republican states have passed stricter restrictions on abortion, limited the choices of transgender youth regarding sports participation and health care and placed bans on which topics can be discussed in class.

Americans are increasingly inclined to declare themselves conservative on economic issues. When asked to describe their political views in general, without referring to social or economic issues, 40% say they are conservative, 31% moderate and 26% liberal. The overall ideological identification, therefore, is less conservative with respect to economic issues, but more conservative with respect to social issues, although closer to data relating to social issues.

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The article Gallup poll: more and more Americans declare themselves "Very conservative" comes from Scenari Economici .

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This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/sondaggio-gallup-sempre-piu-americani-si-dichiarano-molto-conservatori/ on Sat, 10 Jun 2023 06:00:11 +0000.