ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author examines the American National Election Studies data starting in 1972, looking at its consistency, exceptions that may exist among major racial groups. He explores changes in the relationship between the liberal/conservative measure and another fundamental indicator of political identification in the United States (US) – identification as a Republican or a Democrat – to understand the changing political significance of a person describing himself or herself as a political conservative or liberal. African Americans are the least conservative major demographic group in the US. The US population is best characterized as, most commonly, either moderately conservative in its self-described political orientation – the "Slightly Conservative" and "Conservative" self-descriptions predominate, with "Extremely Conservative" usually 3 or 4 percent. While the percentage of Northern conservatives who were Republicans was relatively high in every year, there was a marked increase over time in the South in the percentage of conservatives who identified as Republicans.
