Social liberals equal conservatives for first time in Gallup poll

For the first time in the decade and a half that Gallup has been tracking Americans’ ideologies, the percentage of those identifying their views on social issues as liberal has equaled the percentage of those who call themselves socially conservative.

Among 1,024 adults surveyed earlier this month, 31 percent said they were socially liberal — and 31 percent said they were socially conservative.

The findings mark the lowest percentage of self-identified social conservatives and the highest percentage of self-identified social liberals since Gallup began asking the question in 1999.

In 2009, 42 percent of those surveyed called themselves very conservative or conservative on social issues, the highest percentage in the data set. The low point for social liberals came in 1999, when 21 percent identified themselves as such.

Among Democrats and Democratic ideological leaners, 53 percent say they are socially liberal, compared to just 14 percent who say they are conservative and 31 percent who say they are moderate. The 53 percent is the highest percentage since Gallup began tracking that number in 2001.

Among Republicans and Republican ideological leaners, 53 percent said they were socially conservative, the lowest percentage since the Gallup began asking that question. In 2009, 67 percent identified themselves as such.

Americans are still more likely to describe their views on economic issues as conservative, however, though the gap has been slowly shrinking and is at its smallest since 1999. The latest survey found that 39 percent call themselves conservatives on the economy, while only 19 percent staked out a liberal position.

The poll was conducted via telephone interviews from May 6 to 10, featuring a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

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