If American politics feels angrier than the people you actually know, there may be a reason. A new Pew Research Center study finds that the loudest, most committed partisans are a minority of the country.
Pew's latest political typology, released in June, sorts Americans into nine groups by their values rather than their party. Only four of those groups are deeply ideological and politically engaged — two on the right and two on the left — and together they make up just 38 percent of the public. The other five groups hold a mix of views that don't line up neatly with either side.
The party labels can mislead, too. According to Pew, about one in seven Republicans actually holds left-of-center values, and about one in seven Democrats holds values that tilt right.
What makes the divide look starker than it really is: the committed minority is also the loud one. The majority in the middle is simply easier to miss.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.