Methodology

About the Typology

The 10-group political typology was developed by the Pew Research Center to classify people on the basis of their political value orientations, partisanship, and political activism. The typology groups presented in this report are a replication of the first typology created for this electoral season, in the fall of 1999. That typology was developed through a two-step statistical procedure involving factor analysis and cluster analysis. This procedure is described in more detail in the November 1999 report.¹

The current typology is an approximation of the earlier classification, using the same eight value scales to predict in which typology group a respondent belongs. To increase the efficiency of the procedure, some items that were only moderately associated with a value scale were omitted from the analysis. This procedure has been shown to be a close approximation of the full cluster analysis procedure, predicting the same typology group for respondents in fully 84% of all cases.

STAUNCH CONSERVATIVES

Pro-business, pro-military, pro-life, anti-gay and anti-social welfare with a strong faith in America. Anti-environmental. Self-defined patriot. Distrustful of government. Little concern for the poor. Unsupportive of the women’s movement. Predominately white (93%), male (62%) and older. Married (74%). Extremely satisfied financially (54% make at least $50,000). Fifty-seven percent are white Protestants.

MODERATE REPUBLICANS

Pro-business, pro-military, but also pro-government. Strong environmentalists. Highly religious. Self-defined patriots. Little compassion for poor. More satisfied than Staunch Conservatives with state of the nation. White, relatively well-educated and very satisfied financially.

POPULIST REPUBLICANS

Religious, nationalistic and pro-life. Negative attitudes toward gays and elected officials. Sympathetic toward the poor. Most think corporations have too much power and money. Tend to favor environmental protection. Roughly six-in-ten are dissatisfied with the state of the nation. Heavily female (61%) and less educated. Fully 31% are white evangelical Protestants compared to 15% overall.

NEW PROSPERITY INDEPENDENTS

Pro-business, pro-environment and many are pro-choice. Sympathetic toward immigrants, but not as understanding toward black Americans and the poor. Somewhat critical of government. Tolerant on social issues. Well-educated (40% have a college degree), affluent (almost four-in-ten earn at least $75,000), young (70% less than age 50), and male (64%). Less religious (only 15% go to church weekly).

THE DISAFFECTEDS

Distrustful of government, politicians, and business corporations. Favor creation of third major political party. Also, anti-immigrant and intolerant of homosexuality. Very unsatisfied financially. Less-educated (only 8% have a college degree) and lower-income (84% make less than $50,000). Half are between the ages of 30-49. Second only to Partisan Poor in number of single parents.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS

Pro-choice and supporters of civil rights, gay rights, and the environment. Critical of big business. Very low expression of religious faith. Most sympathetic of any group to the poor, African-Americans and immigrants. Highly supportive of the women’s movement. Most highly-educated group (48% have a college degree). Least religious of all typology groups. One-third never married.

SOCIALLY CONSERVATIVE DEMOCRATS

Patriotic, yet disenchanted with the government. Intolerant on social issues. Positive attitude toward the military. Think big business has too much power and money. Highly religious. Not affluent but satisfied financially. Slightly less-educated, older (32% are women over age 50).

NEW DEMOCRATS

Favorable view of government. Pro-business, yet think government regulation is necessary. Concerned about environmental issues and think government should take strong measures in this area. Accepting of gays. Somewhat less sympathetic toward the poor, black Americans and immigrants than Liberal Democrats. Many are reasonably well-educated and fall into the middle-income bracket. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) are women and 17% are black.

PARTISAN POOR

Nationalistic and anti-big business. Disenchanted with government. Think the government should do even more to help the poor. Very religious. Support civil rights and the women’s movement. Have very low incomes (39% make under $20,000), and nearly two-thirds (63%) are female. Thirty-six percent are African-American and 13% are Hispanic. Not very well-educated. Largest group of single parents.

BYSTANDERS

Somewhat sympathetic toward poor. Uninterested in what goes on in politics. Rarely vote. Young (46% under 30), less-educated and not very religious.