Beyond the Political Binary

The State Policy Network has conducted research that approaches American politics from a different angle.  The researchers comment in their report Beyond Polarization:  Understanding the Values Beneath Political Affiliation,

America’s strength is its pluralism and the variety of perspectives that we hold on what is moral, what is good, and what is important. But with two parties locked in a never-ending battle to capture and keep political power, the result is the opposite of pluralism. Rather than embracing variety and diversity, our political process is rife with oversimplification and divisiveness. This is no way to govern in an increasingly complex world.

Instead of polling Americans according to the conventional political binary of Democrat/Republican, liberal/conservative, blue state/red state, the researchers studied Americans’ political values, interests, and priorities.  On that basis, they classified Americans into seven groups:

1. Bridge-Building Traditionalists: “Largely older than 55 years old, with half over 65. It is also predominantly White. The segment has higher levels of income and education in part because of the higher average age. Members of this segment are significantly more likely to be in the Politically Active group of voters, have a sense of community, find personal fulfillment in work, and attend church.” [42% are Republicans; 33% are Democrats; 23% are Independents]
2. Scattered Middle Class: “Working, middle-class parents who feel the stress of getting by. Two-thirds of this group are between the ages of 25 and 54, and 70 percent are female. Two-thirds have children and half still have those children at home. Despite being more likely to have children, they are less likely to be married. They have average income levels and are more likely to have some college education, but not a degree. Three in 10 live in a rural area.” [24% are Republicans; 30% are Democrats; 31% are Independents]
3. Polarized Patriots:  “More likely to be women and have an average age distribution. They have below average levels of education and skew to lower incomes. Most Polarized Patriots feel they belong to a community, perhaps because they are more likely to attend church than the average voter. However, they are also the segment most likely to say that there is a growing segment being left out.” [36% are Republicans; 36% are Democrats; 22% are Independents]
4. Tribal Left: “The only segment that has a complete preference for one of the major political parties. This group is two-thirds women, White, slightly more likely to be a Millennial (ages 25-34), higher education but lower income, and completely devoted to the Democratic party and liberal ideals. More specifically, they prefer ideas that align with the Social Justice and Liberal ideologies tested.” [1% are Republicans; 51% are Democrats; 20% are Independents; and 28% are Other]
5. Showy Youth: “Where the Tribal Left are two-thirds women and skew Millennial, the Showy Youth are two-thirds men and even more likely to be Millennials. However, where the Tribal Left are predominantly White, Showy Youth are racially diverse with the highest proportion of Black and Hispanic voters. Showy Youth have high levels of education and high levels of income.”  [27% are Republicans; 53% are Democrats; 13% are Independents]
6. Rooted Achievers:  “The smallest segment, but they do not differ much demographically from the total universe of registered voters. However, they do have higher levels of education and income. They are more likely to attend church frequently, feel like they belong to a community, and get fulfillment from their work.” [40% are Republicans; 38% are Democrats; 17% are Independents]
7. Politically Unbothered:   “One of the largest segments of American voters,” they “are individualistic and not engaged in their broader community. They are not civically or politically engaged and are more likely to fall into the Apathetic or Online Influencer groups. This group skews toward those under 35 and has lower levels of education and income than the average voter.”  [36% are Republicans; 33% are Democrats; 23% are Independents]

You can read more about the characteristics and beliefs of each group, figure out which one you belong to, and see what political appeals are effective in reaching each group, by consulting the report.

What stood out the most for me, though, is that, except for the Tribal Left, each segment contained both Republicans and Democrats!  In fact, Polarized Patriots, Rooted Achievers, and Politically Unbothered are balanced in party membership!

The study found that American politics is increasingly separated from specific policies.  And that voters are not always voting according to their beliefs and interests.  According to the report,

In recent years, parties and their candidates have ceased promoting specific policies to solve specific problems. Instead, they are selling a figurehead, an orientation to the world, and a vision of America that often goes unfulfilled as leaders get mired in tribal politicking. Americans ultimately choose the figurehead and the vision of one of the two major parties, but they still need policy solutions to the problems facing the nation. . . .Political parties are pulling apart policy and politics, and many voters cast a vote for a candidate or party that does not fully represent their views and values.

The study also found that people in all of the segments hold much in common.  For example, contrary to the polarization narrative, 76% of all Americans respect different opinions, even when they disagree.  And they have common problems, with over half facing financial challenges.

Rather than two political parties made up of voters with values in direct opposition to one another, American share much common ground across party lines. It is often assumed that parties have deeply ingrained differences in values, but this research does not support that conclusion. American politics is more tribal—people go with the party that feels closer to their identity—but when it is mapped against values alone, groups don’t align strongly with one party or the other except in a few specific instances.

The United States has influenced the forming of democracies around the world, but hardly any of them have chosen to implement our two party system.  Instead, virtually all of them have adopted some version of parliamentary democracy, which allows for multiple political parties.

Australia, in addition to the dominant Labour and Liberal Parties (“liberal” means “conservative” in Australian), has the Green Party for environmentalists, the National Party for “agrarian” (that is, agricultural) interests, One Nation for nationalistic populists, the Family First for pro-family advocates, Australian Christians for Australian Christians, and many others. If you favor animal rights, you could join the Animal Justice Party; if you are a hunter, you could join the Shooters, Fishers, and Farmers Party.

Though either Labour or the Liberals usually win the biggest number of seats in parliament, to elect a Prime Minister, each of those big parties must cobble together a majority by forming coalitions with the minor parties, which they do by offering to implement policies that the little parties are crusading for.

Such a system allows citizens to vote according to their specific interests and beliefs.  It also builds compromise and making peace with diverse ideologies into the very political structure of the nation.

Most of the world’s democracies are like that.  I know that’s not currently possible for the United States.  But if one or both of our two parties addressed the diversity of Americans’ political needs–and the study gives suggestions as to how that might be done–our representative democracy might come back to life.

Illustration by James Boast, Ikon Images via NDLA, CC BY-NC-SA

[I wanted to use this illustration but feared the wrath of the Simpsons lawyers.]