Faith & Flag Conservative, Progressive Left, Stressed Sideliner...where do you fall?
The Pew Research Center conducted surveys in July 2021 of over 10,000 participants and then performed interviews leading up to the release of the report. Through thoughtful analysis, Pew put together the new political typology that provides a road map to today's fractured political landscape. See the full report Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology.
Based on their analysis of the respondents' attitudes and values from the answers given to the survey, Americans can be grouped into 9 bailiwicks. I am going to briefly explain the Political Ideologies and then discuss, with the help of the graphs the Pew Research Center presented showing how the groups compare.
Where do you fit in the political typology?
Are you a Faith and Flag Conservative? Progressive Left? Or somewhere in between?
Disagreement between and within each political party is present. These disagreements create more challenges and complicate the already difficult task of governing in a divided nation.
The Pew Research Center had six main findings that I would like to touch on. First, racial injustice remains a dividing line in U.S. politics. Second, economic policy, including taxes, divides the GOP. Third, Democrats prefer bigger government. Fourth, there are stark differences among typology groups on U.S. global standing. Fifth, Republicans' complicated views of Trump. Lastly, is there a 'middle' in politics today?
First, racial injustice remains a dividing line in U.S. politics. Republican-oriented groups, no more than about a quarter say a lot more needs to be done to ensure equal rights for all Americans regardless of their racial or ethnic background. By comparison, no fewer than about three-quarters of any Democratic group say a lot more needs to be done to achieve this goal. Where the difference lies for Democrats is whether or not most laws and institutions need to be rebuilt. Progressive Left and Outsider Left are far more likely than the two other Democratic groups to say systemic change is needed to combat racial bias.
Second, economic policy, including taxes, divides the GOP. Populist Right Republicans have very negative views of corporations - more in line with all Democrats. Populist Right also favor raising taxes on household incomes >$400,000, again more in line with Democrats. Ambivalent Right also have an increased approval for taxes. It would seem that more Americans think corporations make too much profit and taxes should be raised.
Third, democrats prefer bigger government. Divides between parties exist as Republicans prefer a smaller government and Democrats prefer a bigger government. Among Liberals, Progressive Lefts favor greatly expanding government services.
Fourth, there are stark differences among typology groups on U.S. global standing. More than half Establishment Liberals and Populist Right say the U.S. is among the greatest countries in the world. Faith and Flag Conservatives are the only group in which a majority (69%) says the U.S. stands above all other countries. Conversely, Liberals say there are other countries better than the U.S.
Fifth, Republicans' complicated views of Trump. Survey shows substantial differences among GOP groups over Trump’s future political role. Faith and Flag Conservatives mand Populist Right majorities want Trump to run for president again in 2024.
Lastly, is there a 'middle' in politics today? Surveys by Pew Research Center and other national polling organizations have found broad support, in principle, for a third major political party. Yet the typology study finds that the three groups with the largest shares of self-identified independents (most of whom lean toward a party) – Stressed Sideliners, Outsider Left and Ambivalent Right – have very little in common politically.
Stressed Sideliners hold mixed views; Ambivalent Right are conservative on many economic issues, while moderate on some social issues; and Outsider Left are very liberal on most issues, especially on race and the social safety net. What these groups do have in common is relatively low interest in politics.
How the political typology groups compare
The percent who say Government should do more to solve problems. Few Republicans agree with this statement, with the Ambivalent Right agreeing the most of 32%. Strikingly opposite, most Democrats agree, with the most support from the Progressive Left at 98%.
Sizable majorities in the Democratic-oriented groups say that the government should do more to solve problems and that it has a responsibility to make sure all Americans have health coverage. Democrats also widely reject the view that “it is not the government’s job to protect people from themselves.”
An overwhelming share of Populist Right (87%) say the U.S. economic system unfairly favors powerful interests; that is more than 40 percentage points higher than any other GOP-aligned group. And Populist Right is the only Republican-oriented group in which a majority (56%) favors raising tax rates on large businesses and corporations.
While Stressed Sideliners have more mixed views of business and labor than those of partisan typology groups, a large share (83%) say that the economic system in this country unfairly favors powerful interests – an attitude that more closely aligns with views expressed by those in Democratic-oriented groups.
In general, when it comes to economic issues, Democratic-oriented groups are largely united in their skepticism toward corporate power and the fairness of the U.S. economic system. The Democrats also express positive views of unions and broadly support for raising the federal minimum wage.
Ambivalent Right stand against other Republican-oriented groups in their majority view that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and their view that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational use. They also are more likely than their Republican counterparts to oppose the death penalty for people convicted of murder and to say that stricter environmental laws and regulations are worth the cost.
Stressed Sideliners hold a mix of views on many social issues, but on abortion, banning assault style weapons, favoring legal marijuana and making public tuition free at colleges and universities, they are more aligned with Democrats than with Republicans.
No other area highlights the deep divide between the partisan coalitions more clearly than attitudes about race and racial justice.
Among Democratic groups, Progressive Left stand out for their firm belief that much more needs to be done to ensure equal rights for all, regardless of race or ethnicity, and their strong support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Faith and Flag Conservatives diverge from Democratic groups, and other Republican groups, with their attitudes on race.
Where do you fit in the political typology?
Are you a Faith and Flag Conservative? Progressive Left? Or somewhere in between?
Now that you have been given the time to take the quiz, what political group do you fall under? Are you an Ambivalent Right Republican? Are you an Outside Left Democrat? Or maybe you're a Stressed Sideliner with a leaning towards a party depending on the candidate?
I need to know! We all must fit into a category. We all must have our "sign", so that we can start arguing, right? NO!!
I hope this exercise helped you realize where you are among the current political ideologies and that even though this country is very polarized, we do have a number of common views also.
I feel that maybe it is the media that is playing up those differences and even preying on our fears to ensure that both "sides" stay combative and hostile to our political 'adversaries'.
I would like to hear your thoughts on your political ideology and what we could do positively to get working together and not always arguing against.
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