More Americans Hold Traditional Values

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More Americans Hold Traditional Values

Special Report - October 30, 2009
The percentage of Americans who identify themselves as politically conservative has increased slightly since 2008, with conservative Americans now outnumbering moderates for the first time since 2004, according to a new Gallup report. The report also shows that the percentage of Americans who identify as “conservative” is twice the percentage of Americans who identify as “liberal.” The findings, released October 26, are based on data from 16 different Gallup polls that were conducted between January and September 2009 and surveyed over 5,000 American adults. According to Gallup, 40 percent of Americans describe their political views as “conservative,” 36 percent as “moderate,” and 20 percent as “liberal.” “Changes among political independents appear to be the main reason the percentage of conservatives has increased nationally over the past year,” the Gallup report notes, “the 35 percent of independents describing their views as conservative in 2009 is up from 29 percent in 2008.”

Gallup also reports that more Americans express traditional views on issues such as abortion and the role of government. For example, a recent Gallup survey found that the proportion of Americans who identify themselves as “pro-life” has increased from 44 percent in May 2008 to 51 percent in May 2009, and still remains high at 47 percent in July 2009. In addition, a Gallup poll released last month found that the percentage of Americans who believe that the government should promote traditional values in society is “the highest seen in five years.” According to the September 2009 poll, 53 percent of Americans said the government should promote traditional values in society (up from 48 percent in 2008), while 42 percent said government should not favor any particular set of values (down from 48 percent in 2008). Finally, another Gallup poll also released in September found that the percentage of Americans who believe that there is too much government regulation of business and industry has increased from 38 percent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2009.