{"id":311879,"date":"2026-06-10T14:02:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:03:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?p=311879"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:24:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T19:24:25","slug":"pragmatic-and-polite-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2026\/06\/10\/pragmatic-and-polite-right\/","title":{"rendered":"Pragmatic and Polite Right"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moderate in tone and on many issues, with a small-government streak<\/h2>\n\n\n
About this research<\/summary>\n

This Pew Research Center study goes beyond Americans\u2019 partisan attachments and vote choices to explore the values and attitudes that underlie the political landscape and the Republican and Democratic parties. We did this by creating a political typology, which classifies the public into nine groups based on their responses to 30 questions about government, economics, immigration, elected officials and other topics. To learn more about this project, jump to \u201cAbout the political typology<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Center conducts research to help the public, media and decision-makers understand important topics. We have studied Americans\u2019 political values and attitudes, and their views on politics more broadly, for decades. This is the ninth version of the political typology<\/a>; the first was conducted nearly 40 years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learn more about Pew Research Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we do this?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We surveyed 10,357 U.S. adults from Nov. 17 to 30, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel. The survey represents the views of the full U.S. adult population. We then used a statistical technique called cluster analysis to divide people into nine groups. (For more on the process of dividing people into groups and surveys used for analysis, jump to Appendix B<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the survey questions<\/a>\u00a0used for this analysis, the detailed responses<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatic and Polite Right hold a mix of conservative, moderate and somewhat liberal issue positions: They skew more conservative on economics and the role of government, while tilting more liberal on issues related to race and in their orientation to the rest of the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Allie Sullberg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They are also moderate in their style, prizing civility and cooperation. While they are more Republican than Democratic on balance, they are fairly mixed in their partisanship and vote choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatic and Polite Right are one of nine groups in Pew Research Center\u2019s 2026 Political Typology. To learn more about the typology, start with the overview<\/a><\/em>. To find which group is your best fit, take the quiz<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatic and Polite Right are economically conservative, but not absolutist:<\/strong> They are far more likely than groups to the left to say it\u2019s important for the U.S. economic system to be based on capitalism and to view the economic system as at least somewhat fair. But they are more likely than groups to their right to see economic inequality as a problem in the country and to support raising corporate tax rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatic and Polite Right have moderate to liberal views when it comes to race and diversity. <\/strong>In contrast to groups to their right, clear majorities say the nation\u2019s racial, ethnic and religious diversity strengthens American society, that the legacy of slavery continues to affect the condition of Black people in the country, and that Black, Hispanic and Asian Americans face at least some discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pragmatic and Polite Right are:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n