More Americans identify themselves as conservative than as liberal on economic and social issues, but the gap has shrunk to the smallest in the 14 years Gallup has been conducting its annual Values and Beliefs research, the polling company revealed on Wednesday.

According to the poll, which was conducted in early May, 34 percent of Americans said they were conservative on social issues, while 35 percent said they were moderate and 30 percent liberal.

That 4 percent difference between conservative and liberal stands in stark contrast to where the country stood a half decade ago. In both 2009 and 2010, the conservative advantage on social issues stood at 17 percent, according to Gallup poll data.

Gallup said that while Republican views on social issues have been steady the past four years, Democrats are now more likely to identify as socially liberal, especially regarding same-sex marriage and legalization of marijuana.

“Because Republicans have stayed where they were on social issues while Democrats have shifted in a more liberal direction, overall the country is significantly more liberal on social issues than it was,” said William Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former policy adviser to President Bill Clinton. “If you look at Democrats on social issues, they have shifted very sharply since Obama’s election.”