Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
J UNE 2 6, 201 4
Conservatives (http://www.people-press.org/2014/06
/26/typology-comparison/types/steadfast-conservatives/) are
staunch critics of government and the social safety net and are very socially conservative. Business Conservatives
(http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/typology-comparison/types/business-conservatives/) share Steadfast
Conservatives preference for limited government, but differ in their support for Wall Street and business, as well as
immigration reform. And Business Conservatives are far more moderate on social issues than are Steadfast
Conservatives.
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
2 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
foreign policy, as well as on race, homosexuality and abortion and are reliable and loyal Democratic voters.
Taken together, these three groups form the electoral base of the Democratic and Republican Parties, and their
influence on American politics is strong. While Solid Liberals, Steadfast Conservatives and Business Conservatives
collectively make up only 36% of the American public, they represent 43% of registered voters and fully 57% of the
more politically engaged segment of the American public: those who regularly vote and routinely follow government
and public affairs.
The other typology groups are less partisan, less predictable and have little in common with each other or the groups
at either end of the political spectrum. The one thing they do share is that they are less engaged politically than the
groups on the right or left.
year. The report also includes data from follow-up interviews with many of the initial surveys respondents as part of
the Pew Research Centers newly-created American Trends Panel.
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
3 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
multiple dimensions to American political thinking, and that many people hold different combinations of values than
the predominantly liberal and conservative platforms offered by the two political parties.
Electoral Implications
(http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typologybeyond-red-vs-blue/pp-2014-06-26-typology-0-02/) The new
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
4 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
(http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-red-vs-blue/pp-2014-06-26-typology-0-03/)
typology study may have even greater relevance for understanding 2016, both for the nomination contests and the
general election. In both parties electoral coalitions, there are fissures on some of the most important dimensions in
American politics.
On the right, coalitional politics are focused on the Steadfast Conservatives and Business Conservatives, both of whom
lean Republican by overwhelming margins. Combined they make up about a quarter (27%) of all registered voters.
Both groups are overwhelmingly white and mostly male; Steadfast Conservatives are older on average (67% age 50
and older) than Business Conservatives (53%). And while they represent two clearly different wings of the party one
more downscale and pessimistic, one more wealthy and optimistic both are reliable GOP voting blocs.
Steadfast Conservatives and Business Conservatives agree that government should be smaller and play less of a role in
the economy. They are unified in their intense opposition to President Obama fully 94% of Steadfast Conservatives
and 96% of Business Conservatives disapprove of his job performance. Notably, nearly identical shares of both groups
agree with the Tea Party (55% of Business Conservatives, 53% of Steadfast Conservatives).
But these conservative groups differ in three important ways on policy debates that currently divide Republican
leaders in Washington.
First, Steadfast Conservatives take very conservative views on key social issues like homosexuality and immigration,
while Business Conservatives are less conservative if not actually progressive on these issues. Nearly threequarters of Steadfast Conservatives (74%) believe that homosexuality should be discouraged by society. Among
Business Conservatives, just 31% think homosexuality should be discouraged; 58% believe it should be accepted.
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
5 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
6 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
cards in the new political typology are the Young Outsiders and the Hard-Pressed Skeptics. Both groups have weak
partisan leanings, which are reflected in their early preferences in this falls midterms: Young Outsiders favor the
Republican candidate, or lean Republican, by a 53% to 33% margin; Hard-Pressed Skeptics plan to vote Democratic
by 51% to 37%.
Whether many will show up at the polls is an open question: They are less likely than the core partisan typology
groups to say they always vote.
Nonetheless, Young Outsiders may present an attractive opportunity for the GOP. They are younger and more diverse
than Republicans generally. Nearly half are under 40, compared with just 33% among all Republicans. Yet Young
Outsiders do not feel very favorably toward the GOP; in fact, nearly as many have a favorable opinion of the
Democratic Party (34%) as the Republican Party (39%).
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
7 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
8 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
the upcoming presidential election were Sen. Gary Hart for the Democrats and Vice President George H.W. Bush for
the GOP.
Much has changed in politics over the past 27 years, of course. But some of the same fissures we identified in that first
typology are still evident today. Today, Business Conservatives hold much more liberal positions on homosexuality
and morality than do the other largely Republican group, Steadfast Conservatives. In 1987, Enterprise Republicans
were much more tolerant than Moral Republicans on many of the social policy issues of the time, such as whether or
not school boards should have the right to fire homosexual teachers.
On the left today, the majority-non-white Faith and Family Left is highly religious and has much more conservative
attitudes about the acceptability of homosexuality and abortion than do the Next Generation Left or Solid Liberals.
But this same fissure existed in the late 1980s between what we then described as the Partisan Poor and Passive
values. First developed in 1987, the Pew Research Centers Political Typology has provided a portrait of the electorate
6/30/2014 10:37 AM
The Political Typology: Beyond Red vs. Blue | Pew Research Center for ...
9 of 9
http://www.people-press.org/2014/06/26/the-political-typology-beyond-r...
at various points across five presidencies; the last typology study was released in May 2011 (http://www.people-press.org
/2011/05/04/beyond-red-vs-blue-the-political-typology/) .
Over the course of 2014, the project will further explore the various factors that contribute to or stem from
political polarization. A September report will examine how political polarization is linked to peoples information
environments: Their news sources, social media habits and interpersonal communication networks. Other reports will
look at how political polarization relates to where people live, their political environments, how they view themselves
and others around them, their socioeconomic circumstances, generational changes and broader sociological and
psychological personality traits.
6/30/2014 10:37 AM