This is who the Americans are, politically. All political activists should make their plans, short-term and long-term, in light of that. These are the elements out of which all political movements and coalitions must be built.
Faith and Flag Conservatives: 10% of public.
Committed Conservatives: 7% of public.
Populist Right: 11% of public.
Ambivalent Right: 12% of public.
Stressed Sideliners: 15% of public.
Outsider Left: 10% of public.
Democratic Mainstays: 16% of public.
Establishment Liberals: 13% of public.
Progressive Left: 6% of public.
Faith and Flag Conservatives: 10% of public.
Faith and Flag Conservatives are highly religious, politically engaged and both socially and economically conservative. They favor a robust role for religion in public life and a smaller role for government in society, and they hold that a strong American military is essential in international affairs. They overwhelmingly identify with the GOP and remain strong supporters of former President Donald Trump.
More than four-in-ten are White evangelical Protestants, the highest share of any political typology group. Faith and Flag Conservatives are more likely than those in other groups to emphasize the importance of religion in their lives and to hold restrictive attitudes on abortion and same-sex marriage; they are the sole group in which a majority (67%) say same-sex marriage being legal is bad for the country. They are also the only group in which a majority (58%) favors allowing public school teachers to lead students in Christian prayers.
Three-quarters of Faith and Flag Conservatives say that the best way to ensure peace is through military strength rather than through diplomatic means, by far the highest share of any group saying this. They are one of only two groups, alongside Populist Right, in which a majority favor increasing the size of America’s military.
Faith and Flag Conservatives are the most likely to say that White people benefit “not at all” from advantages in society that Black people don’t have, and they are much more likely to say that there is a lot of discrimination against White people in our society today than they are to say the same of discrimination against Black people. About six-in-ten (63%) say that “increased public attention to the history of slavery and racism in America” is bad for our society.
Faith and Flag Conservatives are the oldest typology group, with a median age of 57.
Committed Conservatives: 7% of public.
Staunchly conservative and overwhelmingly Republican, Committed Conservatives hold pro-business views traditionally associated with the Republican Party, have favorable attitudes about international trade and favor a limited role of government. Their approach to international relations centers on engaging with U.S. allies and maintaining American military might.
Committed Conservatives tend to hold more moderate positions on immigration than the two other deeply conservative groups in the Republican coalition – Faith and Flag Conservatives and Populist Right. They also are slightly more moderate than these groups on some issues related to racial and ethnic equality but still more conservative than the Democratic-oriented groups.
While nearly all voted for Donald Trump for president in 2020, and most hold positive views of him today, Committed Conservatives are less likely than Populist Right and Faith and Flag Conservatives to favor a major role for Trump in their party’s future. They are also less likely to say that they like elected officials who publicly take the (unsubstantiated) position that Trump is the “legitimate winner” of the 2020 election. And of the three largely conservative groups in the political typology, Committed Conservatives are the only one in which a significantly larger share names Ronald Reagan than Trump as the best president of the past 40 years (49% name Reagan, 35% Trump).
Populist Right: 11% of public.
Very conservative and overwhelmingly Republican, Populist Right hold highly restrictive views about immigration policy and are very critical of government. But, in contrast to other parts of the GOP coalition, their criticism extends well beyond government to views of big business and to the economic system as a whole: 82% say that large corporations are having a negative impact on the way things are going in the country, and nearly half support higher taxes on the wealthy and on large corporations.
Like the other two deeply ideologically conservative typology groups, Populist Right are overwhelmingly White (85%). However, in contrast to these groups, a majority of Populist Right are women (54%). Populist Right are also one of the least highly educated groups; just two-in-ten are college graduates.
Populist Right are among the groups most likely to say that illegal immigration is a very big problem in the country today, and nearly half (48%) say that the number of legal immigrants admitted to the U.S. should decrease. They hold very positive attitudes about former President Donald Trump. About eight-in-ten say they feel warmly toward Trump, and six-in-ten say they feel very warmly toward him. A majority (57%) also say Trump should run for president again in 2024.
Ambivalent Right: 12% of public.
On issues ranging from the size of the federal government to views about business, gender and race, Ambivalent Right hold many views that are largely consistent with core conservative values. Yet they also hold more moderate stances on several social issues and differ from some other segments of the GOP coalition in taking a more internationalist view of foreign policy and a less restrictive position on immigration.
Ambivalent Right are a GOP-leaning group as a whole – 68% identify as or lean Republican – and they make up a substantial share of all Republicans and GOP leaners (18%). But this group also includes a significant number of Democrats: A quarter of Ambivalent Right either identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, and a similar share (25%) voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
With 63% of Ambivalent Right adults under the age of 50, they are substantially younger than other Republican-oriented groups. About two-thirds (65%) are White, 17% are Hispanic, 8% are Black and 5% are Asian, making this group more racially and ethnically diverse than other GOP coalition groups.
Ambivalent Right differ from other GOP-aligned groups with their support for legal abortion and less negative views of the impact of same-sex marriage. They also are distinct from other Republican-oriented groups in their views of Donald Trump. Whereas large majorities of each of the other Republican-oriented groups say they feel warmly toward Trump, Ambivalent Right are somewhat more likely to say they feel coldly toward the former president (46%) than warmly (34%). And most (63%) would not like to see Trump continue to be a major national political figure for many years to come.
Ambivalent Right have also largely rejected the unsubstantiated claim from Trump and others that Trump was the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election. Roughly six-in-ten say that Biden definitely or probably received the most votes cast by eligible voters in enough states to win the 2020 election – more than double the share of the Ambivalent Right who voted for Biden, and far higher than the shares in other Republican-aligned groups.
Stressed Sideliners: 15% of public.
Stressed Sideliners are generally disconnected from politics and the two major parties, voting at lower rates than most other typology groups. Although Stressed Sideliners make up 15% of American adults, they were just 10% of 2020 voters due to their relatively low turnout rate. Still, they represent substantial shares of both parties’ coalitions.
Stressed Sideliners are split evenly between those who identify with or lean toward the Republican Party (45%) and those who are Democrats or Democratic leaners (an identical 45%). One-in-ten say they don’t lean toward either party. While they tend to fall close to the average American on many issues, they lean liberal on economic issues and tilt conservative on some social issues.
A large majority (83%) say the economic system in this country unfairly favors the powerful, and about three-quarters (74%) favor raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour. Roughly a third of Stressed Sideliners (35%) say that same-sex marriage being legal in the United States is bad for society, compared with 26% who say this is good (39% say it is neither good nor bad for society).
About four-in-ten Stressed Sideliners (43%) live in lower-income households, higher than most other political typology groups. And they are the group most likely to describe their personal financial situation as only fair or poor (63% say this). Stressed Sideliners are also one of the least highly educated groups.
Outsider Left: 10% of public.
Outsider Left are the youngest typology group, making up 10% of the public. Holding liberal views on most issues and overwhelmingly voting Democratic, they aren’t particularly enamored with the Democratic Party – though they have deeply negative views of the GOP.
Nearly half of Outsider Left (48%) describe their own political views as liberal, including 20% who say their views are very liberal. But despite their liberal tilt, only about three-in-ten identify as Democrats; about half (53%) instead say they are independents who lean toward the Democratic Party.
Like Progressive Left, Outsider Left hold liberal views on most social issues, and particularly on issues of racial and ethnic equality and on immigration. Outsider Left are somewhat more skeptical of government’s role than other Democratic-oriented groups, though far less so than those in GOP-oriented groups.
Weaker attachment to the Democratic Party than other Democratic-leaning groups does not translate into positive attitudes toward Republicans among Outsider Left: Three-quarters say they feel very coldly toward Donald Trump, and just 13% say the Republican Party represents them very or somewhat well.
Democratic Mainstays: 16% of public.
Democratic Mainstays are one of the largest groups in the political typology and the largest single group as a share of the Democratic coalition. They generally favor policies that expand the social safety net and support higher taxes on corporations. But they are somewhat more hawkish than other Democratic-oriented groups on foreign policy and less liberal on immigration policy and some social issues.
Like their fellow Democratic coalition group, Establishment Liberals, they are very committed to the Democratic Party – nearly half (49%) consider themselves “strong Democrats.” Democratic Mainstays were among Joe Biden’s strongest supporters in the 2020 Democratic primaries, and 92% voted for him in the November 2020 general election. As of September 2021, nearly eight-in-ten (79%) say they approve of the president’s job performance, with roughly six-in-ten (59%) saying they strongly approve.
Democratic Mainstays are slightly older and have less formal education than other Democratic-oriented groups. They are the group with the largest share of Black non-Hispanic adults (26%), and six-in-ten are women.
They are the only Democratic-oriented typology group in which a larger share say that the decline in the share of Americans belonging to an organized religion is bad for society than say this is good for society. Democratic Mainstays also are more religiously observant than other Democratic-oriented groups.
Establishment Liberals: 13% of public.
Holding liberal positions on nearly all issues, Establishment Liberals are some of the strongest supporters of the current president and the Democratic Party of any political typology group.
While deeply liberal – roughly half describe themselves as either liberal (41%) or very liberal (12%) – Establishment Liberals are the typology group most likely to see value in political compromise and tend to be more inclined toward more measured approaches to societal change than their Progressive Left counterparts. Like other Democratic-oriented groups, most Establishment Liberals (73%) say a lot more needs to be done to ensure racial equality. Yet they are the only Democratic-aligned group in which a majority of those who say a lot more needs to be done also say this can be achieved by working within the current system.
Establishment Liberals’ gender, age and racial and ethnic profile generally parallels that of the Democratic Party as a whole: They comprise more women than men (53% vs. 46%) and more are under the age of 50 than 50 and older. About half of Establishment Liberals (51%) are White, while 18% are Black, two-in-ten are Hispanic and one-in-ten are Asian.
Establishment Liberals are one of two typology groups in which nearly half (47%) have college degrees (a quarter have postgraduate degrees). About one-in-five (23%) live in upper-income households, a higher share than in any other Democratic-oriented typology group.
Establishment Liberals stand out for their current satisfaction with the direction of the country and optimism about the future. Roughly half (51%) say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country today, compared with 36% of Democratic Mainstays and even smaller shares in other typology groups.
Progressive Left: 6% of public.
Reflecting their name, Progressive Left have very liberal views across a range of issues – including the size and scope of government, foreign policy, immigration and race. A sizable majority (79%) describe their views as liberal, including 42% who say their views are very liberal – double the share of the next largest group (20% of Outsider Left).
Roughly two-thirds of Progressive Left (68%) are White, non-Hispanic, by far the largest share among Democratic-aligned groups. Progressive Left are the second youngest typology group – 71% are ages 18 to 49. Progressive Left are also highly educated, with about half (48%) holding at least a four-year college degree, making it one of the two most highly educated groups overall.
Progressive Left are more liberal than the three other Democratic-oriented groups on many issues. For example, while majorities in all four of these groups favor a bigger government providing more services, Progressive Left are most likely to express this view. When asked a follow-up question about how much bigger the government should be, 63% of Progressive Left say government services should “greatly expand” from current levels – a far higher share than any other group.
Their liberal outlook is not limited to issues related to the size and scope of government. Their views on race and racial equality also distinguish them from other typology groups: Sizable majorities say White people benefit from societal advantages that Black people do not have and that most U.S. institutions need to be completely rebuilt to ensure equal rights for all Americans regardless of race or ethnicity.
Progressive Left broadly support substantial hikes in tax rates for large corporations and high-income households. They are the only typology group in which a majority express positive views of political leaders who describe themselves as democratic socialists. And Progressive Left are more likely than any other typology group to say there are other countries that are better than the U.S.
Although they are one of the smallest political typology groups, Progressive Left are the most politically engaged group in the Democratic coalition. No other group turned out to vote at a higher rate in the 2020 general election, and those who did nearly unanimously voted for Joe Biden. They donated money to campaigns in 2020 at a higher rate than any other Democratic-oriented group.
