Who Republicans and Democrats Are
From Ryan Woodhams,
Your Guide to Conservative Politics: U.S..
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Are the stereotypes true about Democrats and Republicans?
Like most any stereotype, the ones about Republicans and Democrats have kernels of truth to them — Republicans tend to make more money, Democrats are more ethnically diverse, Republicans are more religious and Democrats are more liberal. But despite this, the two major parties in the United States draw supporters from all races, regions, religious groups and, income and education levels. And remember that individual candidates, especially presidential candidates, frequently build coalitions that are somewhat different from their party.
As with my article on ideological differences, I've used recent survey data from the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life and the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, which are nonpartisan groups devoted to studying the American public. Both are sponsored by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Generally, slightly more Americans consider themselves a Democrat than Republican. Still, about a third of Americans identified themselves as a Democratic supporter with a slightly smaller percentage as Republican. The rest, again about a third, supported a minor party, didn't know their partisan affiliation or call themselves independent.
As far as income levels go, the least well-off are overwhelmingly Democratic: Those earning less than $20,000 a year call themselves Democratic 43 percent to 18 percent and those earning $20,000 to $30,000 Democratic 37 percent to 24 percent. Those making between $30,000 and $50,000 are Democrats, 34 percent to 30 percent, while those making between $50,000 and $75,000 are more Republican, 35 percent to 29 percent. People who make $75,000 or more are strongly GOP, 39 percent to 28 percent.
Because education levels track income levels, there's few surprises on how educational attainment affects partisanship. Just as with income, as educational levels go up, more people are inclined to be Republican. Americans with less than a high-school education are overwhelmingly Democratic, 41 percent to 20 percent, while people who have just a high-school degree are Democrats, 34 percent to 28 percent. People with some college training tend to be Republicans, 32 percent to 31 percent while those with at least bachelor's degrees are Republican, 33 percent to 32 percent. I've seen other surveys on partisanship that show people with advanced degrees to be more Democratic than Republican, making those just bachelor's degrees more Republican if they're broken out of all those with some sort of a college degree.
Religiously, Jews are stauchly Democratic, 55 percent to 18 percent, and likewise atheists favor Democrats, 31 percent to 15 percent. Unfortunately for Democrats, white Catholics have been trending Republican in recent decades, and the survey I'm using to write this put white Catholics at 32 percent Democratic and 31 percent Republican. White Protestants are overwhelmingly Republican, 40 percent to 26 percent. Of those, evangelical Protestants are even more Republican compared with mainline Protestant denominations. Additionally, the more orthodox views and the greater frequency of church attendence white Christrians have, the more likely they are to be Republican.
Who Republicans and Democrats Are
From Ryan Woodhams,
Your Guide to Conservative Politics: U.S..
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!
Are the stereotypes true about Democrats and Republicans?
Racially, white Americans are more Republican, 34 percent to 29 percent. Blacks are staunchly Democratic, 65 percent to 6 percent and Hispanics are slightly less Democratic, 40 percent to 20 percent. The survey doesn't have statistics for Native Americans and Asian Americans, likely because those groups have relatively small populations numbers, skewing poll results.
Ideologically, Americans who call themselves conservative are Republican, 51 percent to 22 percent; moderates 22 percent to 36 percent; and liberals 9 percent to 50 percent.
Genderwise, the Mommy Party (Democrats) does better among women and the Daddy Party (Republicans) does better among men. Some pundits have called the two parties that based on a simplistic explanation of the parties' worldview — Democrats try to nuture people like mothers while Republicans stand for personal responsibility and a strong military to defend the nation like a father defending his family.
In the poll I'm using, women favor Democrats 37 percent to 28 percent while men favor Republicans 31 percent to 27 percent.
I will add to or revise this as I see new polls with significant changes to the results found here, which are inline with other polls I've seen.
12NextSources
The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
Suggested Reading
Who Conservatives, Moderates and Liberals Are
Race and Conservative Politics
|
