Leer en Español
THE RATE of U.S. citizens who identify themselves as leftist (liberal) has been decreasing in recent years, falling by as much as 7 percent in half a decade and causing the moderate center to grow, while the conservative majority has remained the same.
A study by Morning Consult, one of the fastest-growing technology companies, found that the percentage of Americans who identify as liberal has fallen from 34% to 27% over the past five years, slightly benefiting the conservative majority and growing the moderate center from 24% to 28%.
45% of U.S. voters in our recent survey say the Democratic Party is “too liberal,” up from 40% in 2017. https://t.co/Dqi55BCaBD
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) August 19, 2022
According to the company’s analysis, the left is losing the cultural battle to a moderate political center that is growing larger thanks to the mass exodus of Democrats who abandon “extreme” liberal ideas, but also oppose more conservative ideas.
The study finds that, compared to former President Donald Trump’s first year in office, the decline in the liberal rate has not translated into a substantial increase in conservatives; rather, the proportion of voters who consider themselves moderate or unsure about their ideologies makes a difference.
In fact, alignment with the conservative right saw a slight decline during the Trump Administration, in what Morning Consult called a “surge of ideological uncertainty.” The opposite has been true since Joe Biden took over the White House.
Minorities and young people lead change
An interesting finding of the study is that it is racial minorities who are leading the way in rejecting ideological extremes, with the most dramatic shift seen among Hispanics.
According to the data, white voters have abandoned liberal ideas by 6% between 2017 and 2022, evenly distributed among the moderate center (from 24% to 26%), the conservative right (from 43% to 45%) and the undecided (from 3% to 5%).
Among each age group tracked in our annual State of Parties series, Black and Hispanic voters were more likely to move away from the ideological left than white voters. https://t.co/Dqi55BCaBD pic.twitter.com/gYsxOcuMyS
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) August 19, 2022
The rate of black voters who identify themselves as liberal has fallen by a dramatic 15%, with a 7% increase among moderates (from 29% to 36%), 2% among conservatives (from 17% to 19%), and 7% among those undecided (from 5% to 12%).
Hispanics are leading the most dramatic exodus from left-leaning ideas. Liberal identification fell by 16% among Latinos (from 50% to 34%), while moderate identification grew from 22% to 27%, conservative from 25% to 29% and undecided from 3% to 10%.
Age also appears to play a leading role in the left’s decline. The proportion of young people (aged 18-34) who identify themselves as liberal has declined more than the other age groups, falling by 13%. Here, the number of young conservatives remained at 26%, while undecided increased by 8% and moderate rose by 5%.
Consistently, black and Hispanic voters moved much farther to the ideological left than white voters.
Tomás Lugo, journalist and writer. Born in Venezuela and graduated in Social Communication. Has written for international media outlets. Currently living in Colombia // Tomás Lugo, periodista y articulista. Nacido en Venezuela y graduado en Comunicación Social. Ha escrito para medios internacionales. Actualmente reside en Colombia.