In an Era of Deepening Partisan Divide, What is the Meaning of Age or Generational Differences in Political Values?

Abstract

Many observers have raised parallels between current times and the Progressive Era (1880–1920), a period of swift change in our country, including rapid industrialization, large waves of immigrants, and pockets of deep poverty. Then, as now, large numbers of Americans felt economically left behind as they watched corporate magnates accumulate great wealth and exercise influence on the political and policymaking processes (Glastris, 2015; Zeitz, 2019). This analogy is not intended to dismiss the numerous differences between the two eras, including the types of economic, social, and political concerns drawing national attention and the shifting demographic characteristics of the U.S. population. The current environmental threat of climate change, for instance, was not a defining worry during the Progressive Era and, demographically, our nation’s population is now much more racially diverse and has grayed or grown older. Yet, similar to the Progressive era, we are experiencing a deepening of partisanship and a surge in activism. This increasingly polarized era is underscored by shifts in individuals’ ideological identities within the nation’s two political parties. On the left, many are adopting the Progressive label and almost half (46%) of Democrats and left-leaning Independent–registered voters in 2017 identified as liberal: an increase from slightly less than one-third (29%) in 2003. In contrast, on the right, 73% of Republicans and right-leaning independents now identity as conservative (Pew Research Center, 2018a).