A recently published study from the Pew Research Center shows that Democrats are continuing to move further left as their party continues to fail to win elections across the United States.
The October 5 report showed that there is a growing divide between Republicans and Democrats — more specifically that Democrats are moving further left while Republicans are staying relatively consistent.
Pew Research’s findings highlight several major issues: government aid to the needy, racial discrimination, immigration, and “peace through strength.”
The report found that there has never been such a large divide between parties on what the government should do in regard to helping the needy:
Over the past six years, the share of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents saying the government should do more to help the needy, even if it means going deeper into debt, has risen 17 percentage points (from 54% to 71%), while the views of Republicans and Republican leaners have barely changed (25% then, 24% today).
Democrats’ views on racial discrimination have also shifted dramatically over the last two-decades, driving the partisan gap to all-time highs:
When the racial discrimination question was first asked in 1994, the partisan difference was 13 points. By 2009, it was only somewhat larger (19 points). But today, the gap in opinions between Republicans and Democrats about racial discrimination and black advancement has increased to 50 points.
In regard to immigration, the study finds that views of immigrants are more positive now than at any other point over the last two-decades, a shift which is primarily driven by Democrats. “The share of Democrats who say immigrants strengthen the country has increased from 32% in 1994 to 84% today,” Pew notes.
The issue of how the U.S. should maintain peace was particularly revealing as the overwhelming majority of Democrats preferred “diplomacy” to having a strong military:
About six-in-ten Americans (61%) say good diplomacy is the best way to ensure peace, while 30% say peace is ensured by military strength. Opinions in both parties have changed since the 1990s; Democrats increasingly say peace is ensured by good diplomacy, while Republicans say it is military strength that ensures peace. Today, 83% of Democrats and Democratic leaners see good diplomacy as the way to ensure peace, compared with just 33% of Republicans and Republican leaners.
The study also found major differences in how members of the two political parties preferred to live. Republicans preferred a more traditional style of American living, with larger houses on larger plots of land with schools and stores further away. Democrats preferred more of a European-style of living, with smaller houses within walking distance of schools and stores.
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