Changing Partisan Coalitions in a Politically Divided Nation
Amid shifts in demographics and partisan allegiances, registered voters are now evenly split between the Democratic Party and the GOP.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Political Parties & Polarization
10 facts about Democrats in the U.S.
More than four-in-ten Democratic voters (44%) are Hispanic, Black, Asian, another race or multiracial, up from 23% in 1996.
10 facts about Republicans in the U.S.
About eight-in-ten Republican voters (79%) are non-Hispanic White, down from 93% nearly two decades ago.
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Partisan Identification Is ‘Sticky,’ but About 10% Switched Parties Over the Past Year
Survey Report Those who study politics have long known that a person’s party affiliation is a strong predictor of how they will vote and what their opinions will be on most political issues. Some of the power of partisanship comes from its relative immutability: Most people remain loyal to a political party. But over a […]
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The Parties on the Eve of the 2016 Election: Two Coalitions, Moving Further Apart
Ahead of the presidential election, the demographic profiles of the Republican and Democratic parties are strikingly different.
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2016 Party Identification Detailed Tables
All Pew Research Center surveys about U.S. politics and policy include questions about partisan affiliation. In 2016, from January through August, a total of 8,113 registered voters were asked the following: In politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat, or independent? (IF INDEPENDENT, OTHER, DON’T KNOW): As of today do you lean more […]
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In ‘political correctness’ debate, most Americans think too many people are easily offended
Six-in-ten (59%) Americans say “too many people are easily offended these days over the language that others use.” Fewer (39%) think “people need to be more careful about the language they use to avoid offending people with different backgrounds.”
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Partisanship and Political Animosity in 2016
The 2016 campaign is unfolding against a backdrop of intense partisan division and animosity. Partisans’ views of the opposing party are now more negative than at any point in nearly a quarter of a century.
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A Different Look at Generations and Partisanship
Survey Report Over the past decade, there has been a pronounced age gap in American politics. Younger Americans have been the Democratic Party’s strongest supporters in both vote preferences and partisanship, while older Americans have been the most reliably Republican. The Pew Research Center’s report earlier this month on partisan identification found that 51% of […]
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Conservatives are among the most politically active Americans
By several measures, conservative Republicans – and conservatives more generally – are more politically active than most other segments of the population.
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A Deep Dive Into Party Affiliation
39% of Americans identify as independents, more than they do as Democrats ( 32%) or as Republicans (23%). This is the highest percentage of independents in more than 75 years of public opinion polling.
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2014 Party Identification Detailed Tables
All Pew Research Center surveys about U.S. politics and policy include questions about partisan affiliation. In 2014 a total of 25,010 respondents were asked the following: In politics TODAY, do you consider yourself a Republican, Democrat, or independent? (IF INDEPENDENT, OTHER, DON’T KNOW): As of today do you lean more to the Republican Party or […]
