The Center for American Progress has produced a new study of American values. It seeks to address the notion that we are a “center-right” country. I’ve maintained for a long time that we are not in many ways. I’ve also argued that asking people if they are conservative or liberal is useless, as the categories don’t predict views on key issues. As I said yesterday, I think the term “moderate” isn’t particularly helpful to progressives. In fact, I am not surprised that many people would choose “conservative” as a self-descriptor. The term suggest prudence and “not radical” or calm and measured. The same is true of “moderate.” The CAP study addresses this self-identification a little differently, most notably, making a distinction between progressive and liberal.
In this study, however, the electorate is broken down using a more expansive five-point scale of political ideology that reflects the variety of approaches people ascribe to today. Employing this more calibrated measure, 34 percent of the country identifies as “conservative,” 29 percent as “moderate,” 15 percent as “liberal,” 16 percent as “progressive,” and 2 percent as “libertarian.” After moderates are asked which approach they lean toward, the overall ideological breakdown of the country divides into fairly neat left and right groupings, with 47 percent of Americans identifying as progressive or liberal and 48 percent as conservative or libertarian. The rest are unsure or scattered among moderate and other approaches.
It also suggests that any term does not enable you to determine how people might feel about issues.
Non-college Americans are more populist and progressive than elites on some measures of government and economics and much more conservative on cultural and national security measures.
But most important is what people say about the issues
The rise of progressivism in America is reflected more starkly in direct ratings of various ideological approaches. Today, more than two-thirds of Americans rate a “progressive” approach to politics favorably, a 25-point increase in favorability over the last five years, with gains coming primarily from those who were previously unaware of the term. “Progressive” now equals ”conservative” in terms of overall public favorability (67 percent, respectively).
I’ve only skimmed the introduction. I’m sure the entire study is useful to read. You can download it from this link. But at the very least, look at the table on pages 10-11. Quite fascinating.