---
title: "Republicans Want Their Party to Move in a More Conservative Direction"
description: "Six-in-ten Republican voters say they want to see the GOP move in a more conservative direction."
date: "2013-03-14"
authors:
  - name: "Bruce Drake"
    job_title: "Former Senior Editor"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/bruce-drake/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/03/14/republicans-want-their-party-to-move-in-a-more-conservative-direction/"
---

# Republicans Want Their Party to Move in a More Conservative Direction

One of the major annual events for conservatives is the [Conservative Political Action Conference ](http://conservative.org/cpac/2013/#) whose theme this year is "America's Future: The Next Generation of Conservatives." The conference meets in the Washington area annually, and this year’s event, which begins today, comes at a time when Republican Party sentiment is to make the GOP more conservative.

[![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2012/11/11-15-12-17.png)](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/11/15/section-2-expectations-for-washington-obamas-post-election-image/#moreconservative)

In a post-election survey conducted Nov. 8-11, 2012, 60% of Republican voters said GOP leaders should move in a more conservative direction while just 31% want to see them move in a more moderate direction. In contrast, Democrats want their party to move in a more moderate -- rather than a more liberal -- direction by a 55% to 35% margin.

Although these views partly reflect the fact that conservatives make up a larger share of Republicans than liberals do of Democrats, this difference is evident even among the ideological wings of each party. Fully 70% of conservative Republicans want the GOP to move in a more conservative direction. Liberal Democrats are divided; 46% want the party to move in a more liberal direction while 45% prefer a more moderate move by the Democratic Party.

A [Pew Research survey](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2011/09/12/more-now-see-gop-as-very-conservative/) conducted in Aug. 2011 found that an increasing number of voters overall already perceived the Republican Party as very conservative. Just over one-in-five (23%) of voters regarded the GOP as very conservative compared to 18% who said so in June 2010. The percentages of those who saw the Democrats as liberal or moderate remained the same, at 32% and 26% respectively.

The survey also found that Republican voters see themselves as somewhat more conservative than they see their party. Those perceptions were amplified among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who agree with the Tea Party. [Read more](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2012/11/15/section-2-expectations-for-washington-obamas-post-election-image/#moreconservative)