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, particularly liberal Democrats, have become more egalitarian and less individualistic, increasing their support for government-guaranteed basic needs and wealth redistribution. In contrast, Republicans have remained highly individualistic, favoring individual liberty and opposing government intervention. This divergence suggests that building a bipartisan consensus on climate change is becoming more difficult as the two parties hold increasingly opposite views on the role of government in solving societal problems.

• Since 2008, Democrats—especially liberal Democrats—have shifted toward a more egalitarian worldview and away from individualism, while Republicans' views have remained largely static.
• Support for the government guaranteeing all basic human needs (food, housing, health care, and education) for everyone reached 47% of registered voters in 2020, with a significant divide between liberal Democrats (83%) and conservative Republicans (11%).
• There is an increasing partisan gap regarding global wealth distribution; in 2020, 46% of registered voters believed the world would be more peaceful if wealth were divided more equally among nations, a view held by majorities of Democrats but minorities of Republicans.
• Registered voters are increasingly divided on the role of government in fixing problems; 50% of voters in 2020 agreed that society would be better off if the government spent less time trying to fix everyone's problems, a sentiment strongly supported by conservative Republicans (80%) but rejected by liberal Democrats (22%).
• The divergence in cultural worldviews between the two major political parties may hinder the ability to reach a bipartisan consensus on climate change solutions due to opposing views on government's role.

APA

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (2020). Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/

Chicago

Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. 2020. https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Yale Program on Climate Change Communication |title=Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S. |date=11 November 2020 |url=https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yaleprogramonclimatechangecommunication2020shifting, author = {{Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}}, title = {{Shifting Views of an Ideal Society in the U.S.}}, institution = {Yale Program on Climate Change Communication}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://climatecommunication.yale.edu/publications/shifting-views-of-an-ideal-society-in-the-u-s/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }