GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- As the two major parties gear up for their national political conventions -- the Republicans this week in Philadelphia and the Democrats next month in Los Angeles -- a select group of delegates and party leaders will be representing their parties to the nation on national television. For contrast and comparison purposes, the following tables provide a portrait of the average Americans who comprise the Republican and Democratic Parties nationwide. In order to provide precise estimates of the characteristics of voters from each party, Gallup has aggregated 10 surveys conducted between March and July 2000, which include over 10,000 interviews with national adults aged 18 and older.
The results show that, in contrast to Democrats, Republicans are highly likely to be white, more likely to be male than female, and more likely to have at least some college education. But the sharpest difference between partisans observed by Gallup is on political ideology. More than half of Republicans and independents who lean to the Republican Party (54%) tell Gallup they are conservative in their political views, compared with only 22% of Democrats. Roughly one-third of Republicans (36%) are moderate and just 8% are liberal. The plurality of Democrats (46%) describe themselves as moderate, while 26% are liberal.
In terms of gender, men outnumber women in the Republican Party by a six-point margin, 53% to 47%. By contrast, women outnumber men among Democrats by a 14-point margin, 57% to 43%. And if the Republican convention hall looks to be noticeably lacking in minorities next week, it could be because the party at large is 93% white, with only 3% of Republicans reporting to be black and 4% reporting to be other racial minorities such as Asian or American Indian. While a majority of Democrats are also white, the proportion is much lower, at 75%, while 19% are black and 6% are other minorities.
Less stark, but significant differences are seen between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to household income and marital status. Republicans report somewhat higher levels of income than do Democrats, with 43% saying their families earn $50,000 or more per year, compared to 31% of Democrats. Republicans are also more likely to report being currently married than are Democrats, 61% vs. 50% -- in part a reflection of slight differences in the average age of party members.
Relatively small differences are seen between partisans in their age, their religiosity (self-reported church or other holy place attendance), or their family situation (whether or not they have children). Union members comprise a small minority of both parties, but they are more heavily represented among Democrats than Republicans, by a 18% to 12% margin. While equal percentages of Republicans and Democrats have graduate educations, Democrats are significantly more likely to have no college education at all.
Survey Methods
The aggregate database on which these results are based includes
telephone interviews with 10,208 randomly selected national adults
interviewed between March 30 and July 25, 2000, across ten separate
surveys. Results based on samples of this size have a margin of
sampling error of plus or minus one percentage point. Results based
on the subset of Republicans and independents who lean Republican
include 4,519 interviews and have a margin of sampling error of +/-
2 percentage points. Result based on Democrats and independents who
lean Democratic include 4,574 interviews and also have a margin of
error of +/- 2 percentage points.
|
Republicans/ |
Democrats/ |
|
|
Gender |
||
|
Male |
53% |
43% |
|
Female |
47% |
57% |
|
Age |
||
|
18-29 |
21% |
20% |
|
30-49 |
43% |
40% |
|
50-64 |
19% |
21% |
|
65+ |
15% |
18% |
|
Race |
||
|
White |
93% |
75% |
|
Black |
3% |
19% |
|
Other nonwhite |
4% |
6% |
|
Education |
||
|
Postgraduate degree |
12% |
13% |
|
Undergraduate degree |
14% |
11% |
|
Some college |
37% |
29% |
|
No college |
38% |
47% |
|
Household Income |
||
|
$75,000 and over |
22% |
15% |
|
$50,000-74,999 |
21% |
16% |
|
$30,000-49,999 |
24% |
25% |
|
$20,000-29,999 |
12% |
14% |
|
Less than $20,000 |
15% |
23% |
|
Region |
||
|
East |
20% |
25% |
|
Midwest |
24% |
22% |
|
South |
33% |
31% |
|
West |
22% |
21% |
|
Type of Community |
||
|
Urban |
23% |
31% |
|
Suburban |
53% |
45% |
|
Rural |
24% |
24% |
|
Political Ideology |
||
|
Conservative |
54% |
22% |
|
Moderate |
36% |
46% |
|
Liberal |
8% |
26% |
|
Religion |
||
|
Protestant |
44% |
34% |
|
Roman Catholic |
24% |
25% |
|
Orthodox |
1% |
1% |
|
Mormon |
3% |
1% |
|
Other Christian |
6% |
6% |
|
Jewish |
1% |
3% |
|
Church or Other Holy Place Attendance |
||
|
Weekly |
33% |
33% |
|
Semi-monthly |
26% |
20% |
|
Seldom |
16% |
14% |
|
Never |
17% |
21% |
|
Marital Status |
||
|
Married |
61% |
50% |
|
Living together |
5% |
7% |
|
Never married |
16% |
20% |
|
Widowed/Divorced/Separated |
17% |
23% |
|
Children |
||
|
Yes |
39% |
35% |
|
No |
61% |
65% |
|
Employed |
||
|
Full-time |
56% |
53% |
|
Part-time |
7% |
8% |
|
Retired |
17% |
22% |
|
Homemaker |
8% |
7% |
|
Student |
6% |
4% |
|
Unemployed |
4% |
3% |
|
Union Member |
||
|
Yes |
12% |
18% |
|
No |
87% |
81% |
