{"id":45235,"date":"2024-04-09T13:56:23","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T18:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/"},"modified":"2024-06-21T10:55:50","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T14:55:50","slug":"the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/","title":{"rendered":"8. The changing demographic composition of voters and party coalitions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mirroring changes in the U.S. population overall, registered voters have become more educated, more racially and ethnically diverse, older, and more religiously diverse over the past three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many of these changes have altered the makeup of <em>both<\/em> parties, but several have had a more pronounced impact on the Democratic Party than the Republican Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;race-and-ethnicity&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"race-and-ethnicity\">Race and ethnicity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the United States has become more racially and ethnically diverse, so too has the electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57596\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-01-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e0d6b2\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e0d6b2;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-01.png?resize=480,575 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-01.png?resize=782,937 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-01.png?resize=840,1006 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"503\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-01.png?w=420\" alt=\"Bar charts over time showing the changing racial and ethnic composition of registered voters overall and in the Republican and Democratic coalitions since 1996. Today, 67% of registered voters are White, 13% are Hispanic, 11% are Black and 4% are Asian. As racial and ethnic diversity increases, there has been more change in the composition of the Democratic coalition than the Republican coalition.\" class=\"wp-image-57596 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Today, 67% of registered voters are White, 13% are Hispanic, 11% are Black and 4% are Asian.<\/strong> In 1996, when President Bill Clinton was running for reelection, 85% of voters were White, 4% were Hispanic, 9% were Black and about 1% were Asian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both parties are more racially and ethnically diverse than three decades ago, but not to the same degree. There has been more change in the composition of the Democratic coalition than the Republican coalition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>White voters make up 79% of <strong>Republicans and Republican leaners.<\/strong> In 1996, they constituted 93% of the party\u2019s voters. Hispanic voters have tripled from 3% to 9% of the GOP over this period. Black and Asian voters are each currently 3% of the party.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Within the <strong>Democratic coalition,<\/strong> the share who are non-Hispanic White has fallen 21 percentage points since 1996 (from 77% to 56%). The share who are Hispanic has about tripled, from 5% then to 16% today. Asian voters have increased from less than 1% of Democrats\u2019 coalition to 6% over the same period. The share of Black voters within the Democratic coalition has remained fairly stable, and they currently make up 18% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;age-and-the-u-s-electorate&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"age-and-the-u-s-electorate\">Age and the U.S. electorate<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The electorate has grown older in recent decades. Currently, <strong>about six-in-ten voters are ages 50 and older<\/strong> (29% are 50 to 64 and 29% are 65 and older). By comparison, 41% of voters were 50 and older in 1996.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57600\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-02-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"dcd5c8\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #dcd5c8;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-02.png?resize=480,542 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-02.png?resize=782,883 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-02.png?resize=840,948 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"474\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-02.png?w=420\" alt=\"Bar charts showing the age composition of registered voters overall and among Democrats and Republicans. Voters have gotten older since the 1990s, but the change is particularly evident in the GOP.\" class=\"wp-image-57600 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reflecting this broader change, both parties\u2019 voters are significantly older now than they were 20 years ago. But today Republican and Republican-leaning voters tend to be older than voters in the Democratic coalition. (In 1996, there was very little difference between the age profiles of the two parties.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>About two-thirds of voters who align with the Republican Party are <strong>50 and older<\/strong> (32% are 50 to 64 and 33% are 65-plus), compared with slightly more than half of those who associate with the Democratic Party (27% each for ages 50 to 64 and those 65 and older). The share of voters <strong>under 30<\/strong> is twice as large among Democrats (16%) than Republicans (8%). A similar share in each party falls <strong>between the ages of 30 and 49<\/strong> (27% among the Republican Party and 31% among the Democratic Party).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;education&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"education\">Education<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57603\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-03-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"dad3bd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #dad3bd;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-03.png?resize=480,564 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-03.png?resize=782,919 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-03.png?resize=842,990 842w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"494\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-03.png?w=420\" alt=\"Bar charts over time showing that the share of Democratic registered voters with bachelor\u2019s degrees has roughly doubled since 1990s; there is less change in the educational profile of Republican voters\" class=\"wp-image-57603 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The share of <strong>voters with a bachelor\u2019s degree or more<\/strong> has increased significantly among registered voters since 1996, from about a quarter (24%) to four-in-ten today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Voters with a high school degree or less education<\/strong> have declined roughly in parallel, so that now about three-in-ten have a high school degree or less (28%), compared with nearly half (47%) in 1996. The share of voters with some college experience but no bachelor\u2019s degree has remained relatively stable across this period (32% today, 29% in 1996).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Among voters who associate with the<strong> Democratic Party<\/strong>, the share of voters with a college degree or more has approximately doubled since 1996, from 22% to 45% now. The share of Democratic voters who have no college experience has fallen by about half (from 51% to 25%).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The<strong> Republican coalition<\/strong> has also become more educated, but much more modestly. Today, the GOP\u2019s supporters are divided about equally between those who never went to college (31%), those who attended college but didn\u2019t receive a bachelor\u2019s degree (34%) and those who have a bachelor\u2019s degree or more (35%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;education-by-race-and-ethnicity&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"education-by-race-and-ethnicity\">Education by race and ethnicity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The dual trends of increasing education levels and increasing racial and ethnic diversity over the last three decades have resulted in dramatic changes to the electoral landscape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57607\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-04-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ece7d5\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ece7d5;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?resize=480,449 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?resize=782,731 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?resize=960,897 960w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?resize=1200,1121 1200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?resize=1280,1196 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"598\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-04.png?w=640\" alt=\"Bar charts over time showing the changing racial, ethnic and educational composition of registered voters overall and in the Republican and Democratic coalitions. White voters without a bachelor\u2019s degree now make up 51% of GOP voters and 26% of Democratic voters.\" class=\"wp-image-57607 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>White voters without a bachelor\u2019s degree<\/strong> remain the largest single group of voters across education levels, race and ethnicity. But where they once represented a clear majority (63%) in 1996, they are now about four-in-ten voters overall (38%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, about two-in-ten voters are Hispanic (9%), Black (7%) or Asian (2%) and without a bachelor\u2019s degree.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Non-Hispanic White adults with a bachelor\u2019s degree or more<\/strong> represent 28% of voters today, which is up modestly since 1996 (21%). Approximately one-in-ten registered voters are <strong>Hispanic (3%), Black (3%) or Asian (3%) and have bachelor\u2019s degrees.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-republican-party\">The Republican Party<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>White voters without a college degree remain the largest bloc within the Republican coalition, but their share has fallen by 17 percentage points since 1996 (from 68% to 51%).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>28% of those who associate with the GOP are White voters with a bachelor\u2019s degree, roughly on par with the 25% who were White college graduates in 1996.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>7% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters are Hispanic without a degree, up from 2% in 1996. Another 3% are Hispanic with a degree (1% in 1996).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"the-democratic-party\">The Democratic Party<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Democratic Party does not have a single dominant bloc of voters across education levels, race and ethnicity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Three-in-ten voters in the Democratic coalition are White with a bachelor\u2019s degree, up from 18% in 1996.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>About a quarter are White voters without a degree (26%). In 1996, this group made up a majority (59%) of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Black voters who do not have a bachelor\u2019s degree make up 13% of the Democratic coalition today, nearly identical to the 14% in 1996, while 5% of Democratic voters are Black college graduates (3% in 1996)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Hispanic voters without a college degree constitute 11% of Democratically aligned voters today (up from 4% in 1996), while Hispanic voters with a degree are 4% of the coalition (1% in 1996).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>4% of voters who affiliate with or lean to the Democrats are Asian voters with a bachelor\u2019s degree, and 2% are Asian voters without a degree (in 1996, Asian voters overall made up no more than 1% of all Democratic voters).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;religious-affiliation&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"religious-affiliation\">Religious affiliation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Americans have become <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/12\/14\/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated\/\">less Christian<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/religion\/2021\/12\/14\/about-three-in-ten-u-s-adults-are-now-religiously-unaffiliated\/\">less religious<\/a> in recent decades, and the electorate reflects those changes. <strong>Two-thirds of voters identify with a Christian denomination, while about a quarter say they are religiously unaffiliated (26%).<\/strong> Fifteen years ago, about eight-in-ten voters were Christians (79%) and 15% were unaffiliated. (We used different questions about religious affiliation prior to 2008, so comparable data only goes back 15 years.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-640-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57612\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-05-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"e5dfd6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #e5dfd6;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?resize=480,443 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?resize=782,721 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?resize=960,885 960w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?resize=1200,1106 1200w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?resize=1280,1180 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"590\" width=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-05.png?w=640\" alt=\"Bar charts over time showing the changing religious makeup of registered voters overall and among the Republican and Democratic coalitions since 2008. Declining shares of voters are Christian in both party coalitions, but the change is much more pronounced in the Democratic Party than the GOP.\" class=\"wp-image-57612 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These broader trends of declining shares of Christians and increasing shares of religious \u201cnones\u201d have impacted the demographic composition of the two parties\u2019 coalitions in diverging ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The<strong> Republican coalition <\/strong>remains overwhelmingly Christian. About eight-in-ten Republican and Republican-leaning voters (81%) identify with a Christian religious denomination, which is down modestly from 2008 when 86% identified as Christian.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among GOP voters, the shares who identify as White evangelical Protestants (30% now, 33% in 2008) and White Catholics (18% now and in 2008) are little changed over the past 15 years. White nonevangelical Protestants have declined as a share of Republican and Republican-leaning voters from 22% to 15% over the same period, while religious \u201cnones\u201d have grown from 9% to 15% of GOP voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>About half of voters in the <strong>Democratic coalition <\/strong>are Christian (54%), while 38% are religiously unaffiliated and 8% are of non-Christian faiths. As recently as 2008, Christians made up 74% of Democratically oriented registered voters. Over this time period, the share of religiously unaffiliated voters in the coalition has roughly doubled.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, White evangelical (5%) and White nonevangelical Protestants (10%) are 15% of the Democratic coalition, down from 28% 15 years ago. The share of Democratically aligned voters who are Black Protestants has changed very little over this period (15% then to 14% now).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 data-is-section=\"true\" data-wp-context=\"{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;ideological-composition-of-voters&quot;}\" data-wp-interactive=\"{&quot;namespace&quot;:&quot;prc-block\\\/table-of-contents&quot;}\" class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"ideological-composition-of-voters\">Ideological composition of voters<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The electorate continues to have more voters who call themselves conservative than call themselves liberal. About a quarter of voters say they are <strong>liberal (16%) or very liberal (8%),<\/strong> while 37% say they are <strong>conservative (26%) or very conservative (10%).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-420-wide\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-57614\" href=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/pp_2024-4-9_partisan-coalitions_8-06-png\/\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ded7c6\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ded7c6;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-06.png?resize=480,522 480w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-06.png?resize=782,851 782w, https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-06.png?resize=840,914 840w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" height=\"457\" width=\"420\" src=\"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_8-06.png?w=420\" alt=\"Bar charts over time showing the changing ideological makeup of registered voters overall and among the Republican and Democratic coalitions since 1996. The GOP coalition is now majority conservative, while Democrats are split between liberals and moderates.\" class=\"wp-image-57614 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Almost four-in-ten voters say they are <strong>moderate (36%).<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These shares are little changed since 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Republican coalition is overwhelmingly conservative: <strong>49% of Republican-aligned voters say they are conservative and 20% say they are very conservative.<\/strong> About three-in-ten GOP voters say they are moderate (27%), and there are very few liberal identifiers in the party (less than 5%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Democratic coalition is more ideologically mixed than the Republican coalition. Among voters who associate with the Democrats,<strong> about half say they are very liberal (16%) or liberal (31%),<\/strong> while nearly as many say they are moderate (45%). Around 6% say they are conservative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mirroring changes in the U.S. population overall, registered voters have become more educated, more racially and ethnically diverse, older, and more religiously diverse over the past three decades. Many of these changes have altered the makeup of both parties, but several have had a more pronounced impact on the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. 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The partisanship and ideology of American voters","slug":"the-partisanship-and-ideology-of-american-voters","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-partisanship-and-ideology-of-american-voters\/","is_active":false},{"id":45224,"title":"2. Partisanship by race, ethnicity and education","slug":"partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisanship-by-race-ethnicity-and-education\/","is_active":false},{"id":45285,"title":"3. Partisanship by gender, sexual orientation, marital and parental status","slug":"partisanship-by-gender-sexual-orientation-marital-and-parental-status","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisanship-by-gender-sexual-orientation-marital-and-parental-status\/","is_active":false},{"id":45246,"title":"4. Age, generational cohorts and party identification","slug":"age-generational-cohorts-and-party-identification","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/age-generational-cohorts-and-party-identification\/","is_active":false},{"id":45298,"title":"5. Party identification among religious groups and religiously unaffiliated voters","slug":"party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/party-identification-among-religious-groups-and-religiously-unaffiliated-voters\/","is_active":false},{"id":45321,"title":"6. Partisanship by family income, home ownership, union membership and veteran status","slug":"partisanship-by-family-income-home-ownership-union-membership-and-veteran-status","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisanship-by-family-income-home-ownership-union-membership-and-veteran-status\/","is_active":false},{"id":45276,"title":"7. Partisanship in rural, suburban and urban communities","slug":"partisanship-in-rural-suburban-and-urban-communities","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisanship-in-rural-suburban-and-urban-communities\/","is_active":false},{"id":45235,"title":"8. The changing demographic composition of voters and party coalitions","slug":"the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/the-changing-demographic-composition-of-voters-and-party-coalitions\/","is_active":true},{"id":45339,"title":"Acknowledgments","slug":"acknowledgments-18-3","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/acknowledgments-18-3\/","is_active":false},{"id":45310,"title":"Methodology","slug":"partisan-coalitions-methodology","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisan-coalitions-methodology\/","is_active":false},{"id":45350,"title":"Appendix A: Adjusting for mode effects when combining telephone surveys and the American Trends Panel","slug":"partisan-coalitions-appendix-a","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisan-coalitions-appendix-a\/","is_active":false},{"id":45330,"title":"Appendix B: Religious category definitions","slug":"partisan-coalitions-appendix-b","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisan-coalitions-appendix-b\/","is_active":false},{"id":45358,"title":"Appendix C: Age cohort definitions","slug":"partisan-coalitions-appendix-c","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2024\/04\/09\/partisan-coalitions-appendix-c\/","is_active":false}],"report_materials":[{"key":"_1ydfwxvad","type":"link","attachmentId":0,"url":"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/spreadsheets\/d\/118jzessZIIYxbqk1VqOw3HreWZG6jTyPGGdi7u_wfjA\/edit?usp=sharing","label":"Party Identification Detailed Tables, 1994-2023","icon":"detailedTable"},{"key":"_bcwbs94yd","type":"report","attachmentId":57595,"url":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2024\/04\/PP_2024.4.9_partisan-coalitions_REPORT.pdf","label":"","icon":""}],"report_pagination":{"current_post":{"id":45235,"title":"8. 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