Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S.

The report finds a growing divide in cultural worldviews between U.S. Democrats and Republicans. Since 2008, Democrats have become more egalitarian and less individualistic, increasing their support for government intervention to solve societal problems. In contrast, Republicans' views have remained largely static and individualistic. This divergence suggests that achieving a bipartisan consensus on climate change solutions may be increasingly difficult due to conflicting fundamental beliefs about the role of government.

• Between 2008 and 2020, Democrats—particularly liberal Democrats—shifted toward a more egalitarian and less individualistic worldview, while Republicans' views remained mostly static.
• Support for the government guaranteeing all basic human needs (food, housing, health care, and education) rose significantly among liberal Democrats by 21 percentage points from 2008 to 2020, reaching 83% in 2020. Conversely, support for this view decreased among liberal/moderate Republicans (by 6 points) and conservative Republicans (by 5 points).
• There is a widening gap regarding the role of government in solving problems; Democrats are increasingly opposed to the idea that the government should spend less time fixing people's problems, while Republicans strongly support that view.
• The divergence in cultural worldviews makes building a bipartisan consensus on climate change more challenging, as the two parties hold increasingly different views on the government's role in addressing such problems.

APA

Carman, J., Rosenthal, S., Maibach, E., Kotcher, J., Wang, X., Marlon, J., & Leiserowitz, A. (2020). Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/

Chicago

Carman, Jennifer, Seth Rosenthal, Edward Maibach, John Kotcher, Xinran Wang, Jennifer Marlon, and Anthony Leiserowitz. Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. Center for Climate Change Communication, 2020. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Carman |first1=Jennifer |last2=Rosenthal |first2=Seth |last3=Maibach |first3=Edward |last4=Kotcher |first4=John |last5=Wang |first5=Xinran |last6=Marlon |first6=Jennifer |last7=Leiserowitz |first7=Anthony |title=Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. |publisher=Center for Climate Change Communication |date=11 November 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{carman2020shifting, author = {Carman, Jennifer and Rosenthal, Seth and Maibach, Edward and Kotcher, John and Wang, Xinran and Marlon, Jennifer and Leiserowitz, Anthony}, title = {{Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S.}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }