Conservatives Are Single-Largest Ideological Group

[classicman2]

http://www.gallup.com/poll/120857/Co...cal-Group.aspx

PRINCETON, NJ -- Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s.

These annual figures are based on multiple national Gallup surveys conducted each year, in some cases encompassing more than 40,000 interviews. The 2009 data are based on 10 separate surveys conducted from January through May. Thus, the margins of error around each year's figures are quite small, and changes of only two percentage points are statistically significant.

To measure political ideology, Gallup asks Americans to say whether their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal. As has been the case each year since 1992, very few Americans define themselves at the extremes of the political spectrum. Just 9% call themselves "very conservative" and 5% "very liberal." The vast majority of self-described liberals and conservatives identify with the unmodified form of their chosen label.
____________

I must admit I'm somewhat (not totally) surprised at these figures.

This is not what you hear from many of our forum members.

[VinVega]

I'm not conservative, but nobody asked me.

[classicman2]

You're among that 5% - aren't you?

[VinVega]

Originally Posted by classicman2

You're among that 5% - aren't you?

I'm one of the people who doesn't believe the word "liberal" is a bad word.

[wendersfan]

Perhaps Gallup should have ask those they surveyed what they meant by the words "liberal" and "conservative". Because in this country, a conservative is someone who thinks the Federal government should spend more money on welfare, more money on childcare, more money helping the poor, more money protecting the environment, and making it harder for citizens to buy guns:

             |     Federal welfare spending
    Ideology | Decreased  Kept same  Increased |     Total
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
     Liberal |        62        141        279 |       482 
             |     12.86      29.25      57.88 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
    Moderate |        63        159        275 |       497 
             |     12.68      31.99      55.33 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
Conservative |       174        382        735 |     1,291 
             |     13.48      29.59      56.93 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
       Total |       299        682      1,289 |     2,270 
             |     13.17      30.04      56.78 |    100.00

             |   Federal child care spending
    Ideology | Decreased  Kept same  Increased |     Total
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
     Liberal |        63        127        292 |       482 
             |     13.07      26.35      60.58 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
    Moderate |        64        149        290 |       503 
             |     12.72      29.62      57.65 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
Conservative |       188        416        684 |     1,288 
             |     14.60      32.30      53.11 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
       Total |       315        692      1,266 |     2,273 
             |     13.86      30.44      55.70 |    100.00

             |     Federal aid to the poor
    Ideology | Decreased  Kept same  Increased |     Total
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
     Liberal |        49        155        269 |       473 
             |     10.36      32.77      56.87 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
    Moderate |        69        164        272 |       505 
             |     13.66      32.48      53.86 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
Conservative |       173        436        672 |     1,281 
             |     13.51      34.04      52.46 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
       Total |       291        755      1,213 |     2,259 
             |     12.88      33.42      53.70 |    100.00

             |   Federal money to protect the
             |           environment
    Ideology | Decreased  Kept same  Increased |     Total
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
     Liberal |        62        152        267 |       481 
             |     12.89      31.60      55.51 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
    Moderate |        52        158        294 |       504 
             |     10.32      31.35      58.33 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
Conservative |       146        399        740 |     1,285 
             |     11.36      31.05      57.59 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
       Total |       260        709      1,301 |     2,270 
             |     11.45      31.23      57.31 |    100.00

             |  Should Fed govt make it easier
             |     or harder to buy a gun?
    Ideology |    Easier       Same     Harder |     Total
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
     Liberal |        15        190        278 |       483 
             |      3.11      39.34      57.56 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
    Moderate |        16        224        265 |       505 
             |      3.17      44.36      52.48 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
Conservative |        51        583        671 |     1,305 
             |      3.91      44.67      51.42 |    100.00 
-------------+---------------------------------+----------
       Total |        82        997      1,214 |     2,293 
             |      3.58      43.48      52.94 |    100.00

(All data from from the 2008 American National Election Study)

[X]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

(All data from from the 2008 American National Election Study)

Perhaps those numbers would be different today?

[Dr Mabuse]

That's a nice source of disinformation you cite there.

[wendersfan]

Originally Posted by X

Perhaps those numbers would be different today?

Possibly, but not by very much. These things stay fairly constant. And keep in mind, in the 2008 ANES conservatives were the largest group, just like in the Gallup data.

[Thor Simpson]

To be fair, any group that includes Rush Limbaugh instantly becomes the "single largest"

[wendersfan]

Originally Posted by Thor Simpson

To be fair, any group that includes Rush Limbaugh instantly becomes the "single largest"

(Insert Michael Moore joke here)

[JasonF]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

Perhaps Gallup should have ask those they surveyed what they meant by the words "liberal" and "conservative". Because in this country, a conservative is someone who thinks the Federal government should spend more money on welfare, more money on childcare, more money helping the poor, more money protecting the environment, and making it harder for citizens to buy guns:

When classicman posted the survey results the other day, I almost responded that when you ask people issue by issue, they overwhelmingly support so-called "liberal" positions. Then I decided that it would add little value without the data to back it up and I didn't feel like making the effort to track down the data.

So thanks for doing what I was way too lazy to do.

[classicman2]

It's akin to the 'studies' about whether there is a liberal bias in the media.

It depends on your definition of what is liberal.

However - the fact remains. More people in this country call themselves conservative than they do liberal.