Political Ideology and American Attitudes Toward Police Reform: The Case of the Conflicted Conservative

Abstract

Amid recent controversies in American policing, the authors draw on insights from political science to explore the case of “conflicted conservatives,” Americans who self-identify as conservative but who are operationally liberal in policy preferences. Compared with other political collectives, conflicted conservative attitudes are theorized to be driven primarily by utilitarian concerns about social conditions and government performance rather than by symbolic beliefs. This orientation is believed to enable the group to wield disproportionate influence on elections and public policy, acting as decisive swing voters. The authors use data from Harvard University’s Cooperative Election Study (n = 39,174) to examine support for police reform among conflicted conservatives and other ideological groups. The findings indicate that the views of conflicted conservatives toward reforming the police differ from those of “consistent conservatives,” who are both symbolically and operationally conservative. However, the findings reveal that conflicted conservatives do not show special regard for utilitarian concerns over symbolic beliefs. These findings collectively highlight the complexity of contemporary political ideology and underscore the need for further inquiry into the social policy preferences of emerging and established ideological groups.