Left vs. Right Ideals Infographic (U.S., 2026)

What this graphic shows

This graphic measures the left-right divide in the U.S. by asking the same question of Republicans and Democrats and plotting both answers on one line. In Figure 1, The Values Fault Line, each row is one behavior from Gallup's May 2026 Values and Beliefs survey. The red dot shows the share of Republicans who call it morally acceptable, the blue dot shows Democrats, and the gray bar between them is the gap. Rows are ordered from the widest gap where Democrats are more accepting down to the questions where Republicans are, so the dashed line marks where the divide changes direction.

The cards that follow ask how wide the gap has grown, who is drifting away from both parties, and where Republicans and Democrats still give the same answer.

The widest splits are about sex, gender and life and death

Abortion and changing one's gender divide the parties most: 73% of Democrats call abortion morally acceptable against 18% of Republicans, and 60% of Democrats say the same of changing one's gender against 5% of Republicans. Gay or lesbian relations (81% vs. 35%) and doctor-assisted suicide (68% vs. 30%) follow.

Three questions run the other way. Republicans are more accepting of the death penalty (76% vs. 33%), of buying and wearing animal fur (70% vs. 47%) and of medical testing on animals (51% vs. 43%). Near the fault line, the parties barely differ: 3% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats accept extramarital affairs, and 25% and 27% accept cloning animals.

The gap has widened for three decades

Pew Research Center asked Americans the same 10 political values questions seven times between 1994 and 2017. The average gap between Republicans and Democrats taking the conservative position grew from 15 percentage points to 36. Over the same years, the share of each party with a very unfavorable view of the other rose from 16% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans in 1994 to 44% and 45% in 2017.

Party members have also sorted under their side's label. Gallup finds 59% of Democrats called themselves liberal in 2025, up from 25% in 1994, while the share of Republicans calling themselves conservative rose from 58% to 77%.

More Americans step outside both parties

A record 45% of U.S. adults identified as independents in 2025, with 27% each calling themselves Republicans and Democrats. The shift is generational: 56% of Gen Z adults and 54% of Millennials say they are independent, against 33% of Baby Boomers. Most independents still lean one way. Counting leaners, 47% of adults sided with Democrats and 42% with Republicans in 2025.

Ideological labels moved too. In 2025, 35% of Americans called themselves conservative, 33% moderate and 28% liberal. Conservatives' seven-point lead over liberals was the smallest in Gallup's annual data, which start in 1992, when 17% called themselves liberal.

Where the two sides still agree

Agreement is real but narrow. Pew found 77% of Republicans and 83% of Democrats say Social Security benefits should not be reduced in any way, even as the parties split by 39 to 54 points on the size and role of government. In January 2026, Gallup found identical satisfaction with what Americans pay in federal taxes (23% in each party) and small gaps on public education (17% vs. 23%).

Distrust of federal power is now shared too. In September 2025, 66% of Democrats and 58% of Republicans said the federal government has too much power. That was the first time since 2003-2007 that Democrats were more likely to say so, a reminder that some answers track who holds the White House more than fixed ideals.

Methodology & caveats

Figures come from Gallup and Pew Research Center and are printed as each publisher reports them, in whole percentages. Survey periods differ by card and are stated on each one: Gallup's moral-acceptability items are from May 2026, its satisfaction items from January 2026, its government-power item from September 2025, and its party and ideology figures are 2025 annual averages. Pew's government items are from April 2024, and its long-run values and antipathy series end in 2017, the last year Pew published them on a comparable basis.

Party definitions differ. Gallup's moral-acceptability and satisfaction cards compare self-identified Republicans and Democrats and leave out independents. Gallup's government-power figure and all Pew figures include independents who lean toward a party. Gallup's single-poll results are based on about 1,000 adults, with sampling error of roughly plus or minus 4 points for the full sample and more for party subgroups. Its annual averages pool more than 13,000 interviews. Pew's 2024 survey had 8,709 respondents with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.5 points.

Four of the seven points in Pew's values-gap series (1999, 2004, 2011 and 2014) are read from the data labels on Pew's chart, not stated in its text. Satisfaction measures move with which party holds the presidency, so Figure 7's gaps are partly a measure of power, not only of values. Some row labels are shortened from the survey wording, as noted on each card.