PRINCETON, NJ — Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in
national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as
conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a
slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it
to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in
line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s.
These annual figures are based on multiple national Gallup surveys
conducted each year, in some cases encompassing more than 40,000
interviews. The 2009 data are based on 10 separate surveys conducted
from January through May. Thus, the margins of error around each year's
figures are quite small, and changes of only two percentage points are
statistically significant.
To measure political ideology, Gallup asks Americans to say whether
their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate,
liberal, or very liberal. As has been the case each year since 1992,
very few Americans define themselves at the extremes of the political
spectrum. Just 9% call themselves "very conservative" and 5% "very
liberal." The vast majority of self-described liberals and
conservatives identify with the unmodified form of their chosen label. MORE>>>>>>>