By Lloyd Sloan, 2024 March 31
A recent TIPP survey (TechnoMetrica Institute of Policy and Politics) sponsored by the Center for Upper Left Policy (CULP) has revealed a hidden “middle ground” in American politics.
A majority (61%) of respondents agree that BOTH:
[1] Wealth is too unequal AND [2] Government is too big.
Perhaps surprisingly there is also substantial majority agreement among independents (66.4%), Republicans (60.4%), AND Democrats (56.4%), revealing a potential new ground for compromise with policies that accomplish both goals together.
The survey was conducted February 28 to March 1 asking 1419 adults their views on [1] wealth inequality and [2] size of government. Previously, pollsters have reported similar results for each opinion separately, but significantly, the recent TIPP Survey is the first to report both opinions together.
The Center for Upper Left Policy sponsored the survey and has illustrated the results in a two-dimensional grid named the Equality-Freedom (E-F) Political Map; the Left-Right (x-axis) dimension is [1] Equality and the Up-Down (y-axis) dimension is [2] Freedom.
The grid is divided into four quadrants based on opinions (agreed or not) on the two statements [1] wealth is too unequal and [2] government is too big:
Upper-Left (UL): Almost 61% agreed with BOTH statements
Lower-Left (UL): 22% agreed with [1], but not [2]
Upper-Right (UR): 14% disagreed with [1] but agreed with [2]
Lower-Right (LR): 4% disagreed with BOTH statements
Observations by the Center for Upper-Left Policy (CULP):
The Lower-Right is small (around 4%) and traditionally seen as “centrist”; this is where “moderate” elected Democrats and Republicans often come together; it is also called the “Establishment” (or “Uniparty”) by the wings of both parties.
The “WINGS” of the Two-Party System (TPS) are in the Lower-Left (L-L) and Upper-Right (U-R) quadrants. The L-L is dominated (59.4%) by Democrats, traditionally considered the (socialist) left-wing progressive faction. Similarly, Republicans dominate the U-R (62.5%), often labeled small government conservatives or libertarians. This confirms the public stereotypes of both parties: Democrats are big government supporters who care about the poor. Republicans are small government supporters who care about the rich.
There is a yet overlooked “majority center” or middle ground in American politics in the Upper-Left (U-L) quadrant. This helps to explain the growing number of Americans identifying themselves as “independent” outside the TPS; it may lead to a realignment of the two existing parties or even to a successful new party unseen in America for over a century.
The detail results are shown in this table:
