Order and Opportunity Left are the largest group in the political typology, making up 18% of the American public. They generally support a larger federal government with more services and are critical of some aspects of the economic system. But they couple this with a greater sense of economic individualism than the typology groups more firmly on the left.
Order and Opportunity Left are one of nine groups in Pew Research Center’s 2026 Political Typology. To learn more about the typology, start with the overview. To find which group is your best fit, take the quiz.
Across many issues, Order and Opportunity Left express a desire for order and safety in society. They support more restrictive border policies and are concerned about violent crime in the country. They also are more supportive of law enforcement powers than groups to their left.
Overall, they tilt Democratic in their political preferences and partisan identification: 65% are Democrats or independents who lean toward the Democratic Party, and those who voted in 2024 backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump by about three-to-one. Still, a quarter are Republicans and Republican-leaning independents. They make up substantial shares of both partisan coalitions, reflecting their large size overall.
Order and Opportunity Left are:
- Socially moderate. They have liberal – though not maximalist – views on abortion and same-sex marriage, while their views on gender identity are more closely shared by more conservative groups.
- Racially and ethnically diverse – 41% are White, 26% are Hispanic, 21% are Black and 8% are Asian.
- Fairly religious. Most (71%) say religion is at least somewhat important in their lives, and they are more likely to affiliate with a religion and to regularly attend religious services than other groups that are majority Democratic.
- Economically pinched. They are more likely to have lower incomes than most other groups. Like Left-Out Left and Tuned-Out Middle, most don’t have savings to cover their expenses for a few months if they lost their job or faced some other financial emergency.
Political affiliation, voting and engagement
About two-thirds of Order and Opportunity Left associate with the Democratic Party, but many do not have strong ties – 29% are Democratic-leaning independents. A quarter of the group are Republicans or Republican leaners, while 10% do not express a partisan lean.
| Strong Dem | Not strong Dem | Lean Dem | No Lean | Lean Rep | Not strong Rep | Strong Rep | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Order and Opportunity Left | 22% | 14% | 29% | 10% | 12% | 6% | 8% |
Roughly six-in-ten (59%) describe themselves as politically moderate, while 20% say they are liberal and 16% say they are conservative.
Order and Opportunity Left are less politically interested and active than other Americans:
- 18% say they are very or extremely interested in politics, compared with 29% of the public overall and more than 50% of those in the most politically engaged typology groups.
- Fewer than half (46%) voted in the 2024 presidential election. Those who did vote backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump (75% vs. 22%).
- 50% say it really matters who wins control of Congress in the 2026 elections (60% of Americans overall say this).
Key attitudes and beliefs
Order and Opportunity Left place more trust in the military and police than groups to their left. They also are more likely than those in these other groups to see violent crime as a very big problem for the country, and they are more open to the idea of allowing police officers to stop and search anyone resembling a crime suspect.
| Leftward Progressives | |
| Loyal Liberals | |
| Left-Out Left |
| Order and Opportunity Left | |
| Tuned-Out Middle | |
| Pragmatic and Polite Right |
| Unconventional Right | |
| Faith First Conservatives | |
| No Apologies Right |
Large corporations make too much profit
They have confidence in business leaders to act in the public’s interest
Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by their sex at birth
The police should be allowed to stop and search anyone who resembles a suspect
They favor a large military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border
They favor requiring government-issued photo identification to vote
| Typology group | Large corporations make too much profit | They have confidence in business leaders to act in the public’s interest | Whether someone is a man or a woman is determined by their sex at birth | The police should be allowed to stop and search anyone who resembles a suspect | They favor a large military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border | They favor requiring government-issued photo identification to vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leftward Progressives | 98% | 11% | 4% | 7% | 5% | 46% |
| Loyal Liberals | 93% | 18% | 15% | 14% | 20% | 52% |
| Left-Out Left | 90% | 22% | 53% | 24% | 42% | 74% |
| Order and Opportunity Left | 83% | 40% | 71% | 42% | 60% | 84% |
| Tuned-Out Middle | 57% | 49% | 68% | 39% | 58% | 73% |
| Pragmatic and Polite Right | 75% | 47% | 84% | 57% | 72% | 89% |
| Unconventional Right | 67% | 44% | 88% | 63% | 86% | 92% |
| Faith First Conservatives | 67% | 42% | 98% | 70% | 95% | 98% |
| No Apologies Right | 55% | 45% | 99% | 86% | 98% | 99% |
They take moderate positions on immigration. Six-in-ten Order and Opportunity Left favor a military presence at the U.S.-Mexico border, and they are much more likely than other Democratic-oriented groups to see illegal immigration as a big problem for the country. But they do not support widespread deportation and detention of those in the country illegally, and they overwhelmingly say immigrants in the country illegally face discrimination. By wide margins, they also oppose the suspension of asylum applications and pauses on visa applications.
They have mixed views on sexuality and gender identity. Roughly half (51%) say same-sex marriage is neither good nor bad for society (the remainder are about evenly split). And while 71% view gender as being determined by sex at birth and 51% say they are not comfortable with the use of nonbinary pronouns, 62% also say transgender people face a lot of discrimination.
More than eight-in-ten (84%) back requiring photo voter identification to vote. But they also are more likely than groups to the right to favor automatic voter registration (65%) and allowing any voter to vote by mail if they want to (70%).
More respectful of authority, traditional than other left-oriented groups
| Leftward Progressives | Loyal Liberals | Left-Out Left | Order & Opportunity Left | Tuned-Out Middle | Pragmatic & Polite Right | Unconventional Right | Faith First Conservatives | No Apologies Right | General public | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Respectful of authority | 40% | 61% | 62% | 74% | 55% | 87% | 77% | 83% | 84% | 71% |
| Open-minded | 80% | 84% | 71% | 65% | 42% | 69% | 62% | 62% | 74% | 67% |
| Interested in visiting other countries | 67% | 71% | 57% | 40% | 35% | 43% | 40% | 36% | 38% | 46% |
| Traditional | 5% | 14% | 19% | 32% | 34% | 51% | 43% | 71% | 74% | 39% |
About three-quarters of Order and Opportunity Left (74%) describe themselves as “respectful of authority” – a far higher share than in other majority-Democratic groups.
And while only about a third (32%) view themselves as “traditional,” much smaller shares of groups to their left say this.
They are also less interested in visiting other countries (40%) than other groups with a Democratic tilt.
Jump to the detailed tables to learn more about Order and Opportunity Left and the other typology groups.
