Political Trends

In the early 1980s, for both men and women, the most common party identification switched from Democrat to Republican. The upward trend in the proportion reporting Republican peaked in the early 1990s and has been declining since. Since then, there has been a general upward trend in the proportion of men and women that identify as Independents. From 2004 to 2006 there has been a steep decline in the proportion identifying as Republican, which a matching increase in the proportion identifying as Independents.

Trends in Men’s Party Identification 1972-2006, General Social Survey












Trends in Women’s Party Identification 1972-2006, General Social Survey














Source: General Social Survey