Political Ideology in the United States: Conservatism and Liberalism in the 1980s and 1990s

Abstract

To describe the American public’s political ideology, previous research has used two methods of classification: self-designation and classification based on policy preferences. These two methods produce different results; typically, more Americans self-classify as “conservative” than would be expected based on their issue opinions (Conover/Feldman 1981). But this blurred picture of American political ideology may have changed. Alterations in the American political environment in the 1980s are said to have clarified the meaning of ideological positions for the American voter. The partisan reconfiguration of the “Solid South,” the emergence of candidates who campaign in order to satisfy their electoral base among party activists, and the widening of the ideological gulf between the parties in Congress have clarified the meaning of ideological labels (Hetherington 2001). The sharpening of elite ideological divisions means that more Americans may think of their politics in ideological terms. Ideological self-designation has become more meaningful; it is more closely linked to individuals’ social and economic place in the American polity, and more reflective of their issue preferences.