Demographics of American Liberals
Self-identified liberals are the smallest ideological bloc in the US. They make up about 20% of the American population, with roughly 6% identifying as very liberal. Over the last two decades, the proportion of both liberals and conservatives have increased, while those self-identifying as moderates have decreased.
According to surveys by the New York Times and CBS News, between 18% and 27% of American adults identify as liberal, versus moderate or conservative. In recent presidential elections, exit polls show that roughly 20% of the electorate self-identified as "liberal," and, the vast majority of liberals voted in favor of the Democrats.
A Pew Research Center study found that liberals were the most educated ideological demographic and were tied with the conservative sub-group, the "Enterprisers", for the most affluent group. Of those who identified as liberal, 49% were college graduates and 41% had household incomes exceeding $75,000, compared to 27% and 28% as the national average, respectively. Liberalism has become the dominant political ideology in academia, with 44-62% identifying as liberal, depending on the exact wording of the survey. This compares with 40-46% liberal identification in surveys from 1969-1984. The social sciences and humanities were most liberal, whereas business and engineering departments were the least liberal, though even in the business departments, liberals outnumbered conservatives by two to one. This feeds the common question whether liberals, on average, are more educated than their political counterparts––conservatives. Two Zogby surveys from 2008 and 2010 indeed affirm that self-identified liberals tend to go to college more than self-identified conservatives. Polls have found that young Americans are considerably more liberal than the general population. As of 2009, 30% of the 18-29 cohort was liberal. In 2011, this had changed to 28%, with moderates picking up the two percent.
Read more about this topic: Modern Liberalism In The United States
Famous quotes containing the words american and/or liberals:
“The ideal of the self-sufficient American family is a myth, dangerous because most families, especially affluent families, do in fact make use of a range of services to survive. Families needing one or another kind of help are not morally deficient; most families do need assistance at one time or another.”
—Joseph Featherstone (20th century)
“The liberals have not softened their view of actuality to make themselves live closer to the dream, but instead sharpen their perceptions and fight to make the dream actuality or give up the battle in despair.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)