Story at a glance
- Those who consider themselves liberal (33%) remain close to those who identify as being conservative (32%) or moderate (32%).
- Americans have become increasingly more liberal when it comes to social issues over the past 20 years, research shows.
- The push to lean even more left is driven by Democrats.
(NewsNation) — More Americans are identifying as having liberal views on social issues than they did in past years, according to data released from a recent Gallup poll.
While those who consider themselves liberal (33%) remain close to those who identify as being conservative (32%) or moderate (32%) heading into what is expected to be a closely contested presidential election in November, Americans have become increasingly more liberal when it comes to social issues over the past 20 years, research shows.
As expected, the push to lean even more left is driven by Democrats, as neither Republicans nor independents have shifted toward being more liberal, Gallup polling found. However, since 2004, Democrats expressing more liberal views has grown by 30 points, jumping from 39% of those who consider themselves to be liberal in 2004, to 69% in 2024, the polling shows.
Democrats have become increasingly more liberal when it comes to economic issues, as the rate has nearly doubled, data shows. The majority of Americans identify as being fiscally conservative (39%) or moderate (35%), while only about 23% of Americans consider themselves to be liberal when it comes to financial matters, according to Gallup.
Gallup data shows that the peak of liberal economic identification came in 2021 when 25% of Americans identified in that category. However, the percentage in that group has exceeded 20% in each of the past five years.
Gallup reports that fiscally conservative views were particularly high during former President Barack Obama’s first term. From 2009 to 2012, about 50% of Americans considered themselves economically conservative, including 51% of U.S. residents putting themselves into that category in 2010 when the Tea Party swept through congressional races.
Republicans have become more conservative on social and especially economic issues over time, polling found. They are somewhat less moderate than in the past on social issues and are half as likely now as in 2004 to express moderate views on the economy.
As was the case in 2004, few Republicans identify as liberal on either kind of issue.
However, the growth in liberal views among Democrats has outpaced that in conservative views among Republicans. As the ideological makeup of political independents has remained steady, the liberalization of Democratic views has altered the national averages on both social and economic issues, Gallup reported.
Americans’ views on economic matters still lean more conservative than liberal, despite a growing number of Americans who identify as economically liberal.
However, in the wake of landmark changes on LGBTQ+ rights, legalization of marijuana in much of the United States 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.