WilliamJB
Active member
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2010
- Messages
- 314
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- Location
- Albany, NY
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
The claim is often made, mostly on the right, of course, that America is fundamentally a center-right country.
I actually don't necessarily disagree with this statement, though I feel it might be a little simplistic.
What to other members of this forum think? Is this country, at its core, a center-right country? Why or why not, and what does this statement ultimately mean?
The claim is often made, mostly on the right, of course, that America is fundamentally a center-right country.
I actually don't necessarily disagree with this statement, though I feel it might be a little simplistic.
What to other members of this forum think? Is this country, at its core, a center-right country? Why or why not, and what does this statement ultimately mean?
If you ask people to identify themselves as liberal, independent or conservative, you usually see a 20-40-40 breakdown. That would put the median voter somewhere around the center-right. I don't think there's much more to it than that.
If you ask people to identify themselves as liberal, independent or conservative, you usually see a 20-40-40 breakdown. That would put the median voter somewhere around the center-right. I don't think there's much more to it than that.
I'd be interested to see a source for those numbers if you have one handy.
The claim is often made, mostly on the right, of course, that America is fundamentally a center-right country.
I actually don't necessarily disagree with this statement, though I feel it might be a little simplistic.
What to other members of this forum think? Is this country, at its core, a center-right country? Why or why not, and what does this statement ultimately mean?
Talking about the country as a whole is probably to broad. As there seem to be meaningful differences by region.
That being said overall, I think a majority of people are socially left of center. This means that they accept things like gay marriage, womens choice, all people regardless of race, religion etc should be treated the same.
I think fiscally people are a bit right of center. That is they want the government to control the budget, understand that we need some regulation but don't want a European style economy. Most people want a capitalist style economy where they have a shot at moving up the economic ladder.
Maybe I am saying the above because those are where I would come out of most issues.
I think "Centeral Right" is a meaningless term to describe the United States. Political views are too complex to boil down to strictly Right or Left.The claim is often made, mostly on the right, of course, that America is fundamentally a center-right country.
I actually don't necessarily disagree with this statement, though I feel it might be a little simplistic.
What to other members of this forum think? Is this country, at its core, a center-right country? Why or why not, and what does this statement ultimately mean?
Talking about the country as a whole is probably to broad. As there seem to be meaningful differences by region.
That being said overall, I think a majority of people are socially left of center. This means that they accept things like gay marriage, womens choice, all people regardless of race, religion etc should be treated the same.
I think fiscally people are a bit right of center. That is they want the government to control the budget, understand that we need some regulation but don't want a European style economy. Most people want a capitalist style economy where they have a shot at moving up the economic ladder.
Maybe I am saying the above because those are where I would come out of most issues.
Just a note re: gay marriage - there has been only one poll that has ever shown a majority of people supporting gay marriage, and that was with questionable wording. Pretty much every other poll shows the country as being substantially opposed to gay marriage.
Talking about the country as a whole is probably to broad. As there seem to be meaningful differences by region.
That being said overall, I think a majority of people are socially left of center. This means that they accept things like gay marriage, womens choice, all people regardless of race, religion etc should be treated the same.
I think fiscally people are a bit right of center. That is they want the government to control the budget, understand that we need some regulation but don't want a European style economy. Most people want a capitalist style economy where they have a shot at moving up the economic ladder.
Maybe I am saying the above because those are where I would come out of most issues.
Thanks for the link. Interesting graph.
Again, I'm not disputing the fact that a plurality of Americans identify as either conservatives or moderates, but I think what this most accurately reflects is the current Reagan coalition of foreign policy hawks, free market and business interests, and Christian conservatives. I'd love to see some data from the 50s and 60s when the New Deal coalition was still dominant, and liberal wasn't the dirty word it is today.
I think "Centeral Right" is a meaningless term to describe the United States. Political views are too complex to boil down to strictly Right or Left.
The country has become progressively Left-leaning for the past hundred years, so I can't see how we can be described as a Conservative country.
For the record, I consider my views to be a mixture of both ideologies. When it comes down to it, most people could be described that way.
The claim is often made, mostly on the right, of course, that America is fundamentally a center-right country.
I actually don't necessarily disagree with this statement, though I feel it might be a little simplistic.
What to other members of this forum think? Is this country, at its core, a center-right country? Why or why not, and what does this statement ultimately mean?
I'm not aware of anything going back that far, but you can't really blame Reagan for this. ANES data is a little different because it uses a 7-point scale, but shows a similar disparity:
Liberal-Conservative Self-Identification
The percent of people who identify as liberal in 2008 is the same as in the early 70s.
Absolutely meaningless. The word "liberal" does not mean the same thing now as it did in the 70s.
I'm not aware of anything going back that far, but you can't really blame Reagan for this. ANES data is a little different because it uses a 7-point scale, but shows a similar disparity:
Liberal-Conservative Self-Identification
The percent of people who identify as liberal in 2008 is the same as in the early 70s.
That may affect the meaning of the information, but doesn't make it meaningless. if we're discussing whether people consider themselves liberal and want historical info, I don't know that there's anything better.
That may affect the meaning of the information, but doesn't make it meaningless. if we're discussing whether people consider themselves liberal and want historical info, I don't know that there's anything better.
Agreed. I'm actually just as interested in trying to get a handle on what "liberal" meant historically, as well as in the contemporary context. The fact that people were reluctant to call themselves liberal back then says something about what the term meant to them, if not what it means today, or in general.
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