Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.
Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.
Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans. Nearly half of younger adults say they “wish there were more parties to choose from.”
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Part 1: Principal Findings Coming out of the 2004 election, the American political landscape decidedly favored the Republican Party. The GOP had extensive appeal among a disparate group of voters in the middle of the electorate, drew extraordinary loyalty from its own varied constituencies, and made some inroads among conservative Democrats. These advantages outweighed continued […]
Introduction and Summary Anxiety may replace anger as the dominant voter emotion in 1996. A major national survey finds significantly more Americans than 18 months ago worried about affording major expenses such as health care costs, college tuition, retirement funds and housing costs. Voter anxiety has increased across the political spectrum and appears to be […]
Report Summary This is the third in a series of nationwide personal interview surveys commissioned by Times Mirror to assess the American electorate. The People, The Press, and Politics series employs a unique voter classification scheme developed by Gallup for Times Mirror in 1987. The overall purpose of these surveys is to better understand voter […]
Report Summary There are 11 distinct groups in the American electorate — 10 that vote in varying degrees, and one that does not vote at all. How Americans vote is a much more complex process than previously defined. There have been many attempts to analyze political attitudes in this country. Some analysts have focused on […]
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