{"id":13159,"date":"2015-11-25T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T12:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:54:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T18:54:33","slug":"winners-and-losers-in-politics","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/11\/25\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/","title":{"rendered":"In politics, most Americans feel they\u2019re on the losing side"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Note: For the latest survey data on winning and losing in politics, read <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2026\/02\/24\/stark-partisan-divide-in-who-thinks-their-side-is-winning-and-losing-in-politics\/\">our 2026 post<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left wp-block-paragraph\">It could be a sign of the times \u2013 or something more lasting \u2013 but far more Americans today feel like their side is losing more often than winning in politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/11\/25\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/ft_15-11-24_winlose_reps2-png\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24524\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ebe8e0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ebe8e0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"310\" height=\"350\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_reps2.png?resize=310,350 310w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_reps2.png\" alt=\"Far More Republicans Than Democrats Say Their Side 'Loses' More Than 'Wins'\" class=\"wp-image-24524 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In our new survey examining the <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2015\/11\/23\/beyond-distrust-how-americans-view-their-government\/\">public\u2019s attitudes about government<\/a>, just 25% say that, \u201con the issues that matter,\u201d their side has been <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2015\/11\/23\/8-perceptions-of-the-publics-voice-in-government-and-politics\/#on-important-political-issues-most-see-their-side-as-losing\">winning more often than it has been losing<\/a>. More than twice as many (64%) say their side loses more often than it wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The feeling that political losses outnumber victories is widely shared across demographic groups. Substantial majorities of men (66%) and women (62%) feel like their side loses more than it wins. And there are only modest differences when it comes to race and ethnicity: 66% of whites, 65% of blacks and 59% of Hispanics all say their political side loses more often than it wins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet there are clear partisan differences \u2013 fully 79% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say their side loses more often than it wins, compared with 52% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is yet another indication of the broad dissatisfaction Republicans express toward politics, a feeling <a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2015\/05\/21\/negative-views-of-new-congress-cross-party-lines\/\">that extends to views of the GOP-led Congress<\/a> and their own party. While Republicans hold majorities in both the House and Senate, favorable ratings for Congress \u2013 while extremely low among members of both parties \u2013 are lower among Republicans (23% favorable) than Democrats (31%). In addition, more Republicans than Democrats continue to view their own party unfavorably (31% vs. 19%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, while Republicans generally feel like their side is \u201closing,\u201d most Democrats do not feel like political \u201cwinners.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/11\/25\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/ft_15-11-24_winlose_dems2-png\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24520\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ebe7dd\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ebe7dd;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"325\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_dems2.png?resize=420,325 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_dems2.png\" alt=\"Most Americans Feel Like Their Side Is 'Losing' - Except Well-Educated Democrats\" class=\"wp-image-24520 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Overall, about half of Democrats and Democratic leaners say their side in politics loses more than it wins, and this sentiment is especially widespread among Democrats with lower levels of education. A majority of Democrats with no more than a high school education (59%), as well as those with some college experience (54%), say their side loses more than it prevails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Among the only groups who feel like they\u2019re winning are well-educated Democrats. Those with at least a college degree are more likely to say they feel like their side is winning (51%) than say it\u2019s losing (41%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/11\/25\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/ft_15-11-24_winlose_older2-png\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24519\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ece8dc\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ece8dc;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"348\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_older2.png?resize=420,348 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_older2.png\" alt=\"In Politics, More Older Americans See Their Side As 'Losing' More Often Than Not\" class=\"wp-image-24519 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In general, younger people are more likely than older people to feel their side is winning: About a third of those under 50 (30%) say their side wins more than it loses compared with 20% of those 50 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Older Republicans are more likely than younger Republicans to see their side as losing in politics today. Still, a majority of Republicans under 30 (69%)&nbsp;do hold this view, and they are much more likely to say this than their Democratic counterparts. Just half of young Democrats say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2015\/11\/25\/winners-and-losers-in-politics\/ft_15-11-24_winlose_angry2-png\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-24516\"><img data-dominant-color=\"ece9e0\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" style=\"--dominant-color: #ece9e0;\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"420\" height=\"279\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_angry2.png?resize=420,279 420w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 480px, (max-width: 782px) 782px, 640px\" src=\"https:\/\/beta.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2015\/11\/FT_15.11.24_winlose_angry2.png\" alt=\"Those Who Feel Their Side Is 'Losing' at Politics Are More Likely to be Angry at Government\" class=\"wp-image-24516 not-transparent\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What we found \u2013 perhaps not surprisingly \u2013 is that, in general, feelings of political \u201closing\u201d are associated with higher levels of anger toward government. Among those who say their side loses more than it wins politically, 27% are angry at the federal government \u2013 three times the percentage among those who feel like their side wins more frequently (9%).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It could be a sign of the times \u2013 or something more lasting \u2013 but far more Americans today feel like their side is losing more often than winning in politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":306,"featured_media":24524,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"sub_headline":null,"sub_title":"","_prc_public_revisions":[],"_ppp_expiration_hours":0,"_ppp_enabled":false,"ai_generated_summary":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-10-03T15:18:26Z","apple_news_api_id":"5e3053c2-fd90-4bf2-addc-fc16542cc868","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-10-03T15:18:26Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AXjBTwv2QS_Kt3PwWVCzIaA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"apple_news_api_pending":"1713063759","relatedPosts":[],"datacite_doi":"","datacite_doi_citation":"","_prc_seo_qr_attachment_id":0,"spoken_article_player_enabled":true,"displayBylines":true,"footnotes":"","prc_watchers":[],"_prc_fork_parent":0,"_prc_fork_status":"","_prc_active_fork":0},"categories":[],"bylines":[805],"collection":[],"datasets":[],"_post_visibility":[],"formats":[467],"_fund_pool":[],"languages":[],"regions-countries":[515],"research-teams":[520],"workflow-status":[],"class_list":["post-13159","short-read","type-short-read","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","bylines-hannah-fingerhut","formats-short-read","regions-countries-united-states","research-teams-politics"],"label":"Short 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