Gallup’s Values and Beliefs survey finds most Americans hold a liberal view on social issues. The liberal perspective is no longer a “minority viewpoint.”
The trend toward liberal views is the result of U.S. Democrats’ progression on social issues. Neither Republicans’ nor Independents’ views have become more liberal.
Compared to previous decades, Gallup reports a 30-point increase from 2004 until now on social issues for Democrats who identify as liberal. Regarding economic issues, Democrats’ liberal identification has almost doubled.
In previous years, Americans were presumably more socially conservative, but ideological parity has not been reached. Conversely, liberal identification has moderately increased while conservative and moderate identification has slightly declined.
Respondents were asked, “Thinking about social issues, would you say your views on social issues are: very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal or very liberal?” U.S. adults are uniformly likely to say their views are conservative (32%), moderate (32%) or liberal (33%) on social issues. On the other hand, most respondents are conservative and moderate on economic issues (conservative, 39%; moderate, 35%; liberal, 23%).
“Americans’ views on economic matters, broadly, still lean more conservative than liberal, despite a growing number of Americans who identify as economically liberal,” Justin McCarthy, a journalist and analyst for Gallup, wrote. “However, in the wake of landmark changes on LGBTQ+ rights, legalization of marijuana in much of the country, and the Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, the nation is now less conservative than in the past on social issues, with equal shares identifying as liberal, moderate and conservative.”
To read the full report, click here.
Associate editor, director of The Raceless Gospel Initiative, host of the Good Faith Media podcast, “The Raceless Gospel” and author of Take Me to the Water: The Raceless Gospel as Baptismal Pedagogy for a Desegregated Church.
