Research Shows Americans Aren’t As Conservative as Right-Wing Claims

Following the 2010 elections, conservative pundits declared America a “center-right nation” with 42 percent of voters now identifying as “conservative.” However, new research shows that this assumption isn’t quite accurate as only a quarter of self-identified “conservatives” are actually conservative on the issues.

Political Scientists at Bucknell University and University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill say the word “conservative” has different meanings to different people. Most are moral conservatives, rooting the term in their own personal values.

“But they also like government spending on a variety of programs and generally approve of government interventions in the marketplace, hardly making them true conservatives,” according to an Alternet report. In September, Project Vote conducted a poll that also found Americans want a government that did more for all Americans, not less, contrary to the cry of the Tea Party and newly elected officials.

“I hope what this does is provide a grain of salt in reading public opinion,” said co-author of the study, Christopher Ellis. “We’re more conservative now than we were two years ago, but the raw numbers are misleading. They give a picture that’s just not there when you dig deeper.”