The Democratic coalition is largely united in staunch opposition to President Trump. Yet, while Trump's election has triggered a wave of political activism within the party's sizable liberal bloc, the liberals' sky-high political energy is not nearly as evident among other segments in the Democratic base. And Democrats also are internally divided over U.S. global involvement, as well as some religious and social issues.
These are among the findings of Pew Research Center's new political typology, which sorts Americans into cohesive groups based on their values, attitudes and party affiliation, and provides a unique perspective on the nation's changing political landscape. Before reading further, take our quiz to see where you fit in the political typology.
The political typology reveals that even in a political landscape increasingly fractured by partisanship, the divisions within the Republican and Democratic coalitions may be as important a factor in American politics as the divisions between them.
In some cases these fissures are not new - they were evident in six previous Pew Research Center typology studies conducted over the past three decades, most recently in 2014. Yet, especially within the GOP, many of the divisions now center on the issues that have been front-and-center for Trump since he first launched his presidential campaign.
This study is based on surveys of more than 5,000 adults conducted over the summer. This was also the data source for our Oct. 6 report, "The Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider." These reports were made possible by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which received support for the surveys from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Read the full Pew report here.
At some point in the not too distant future this entirely false narrative of political 'sides' is going to break apart into half a dozen entities, all sure of their own ideology and all armed to the teeth.