Democrats are the party of the lower class

Over at Discover blogs I have two posts up, Republicans, the middle class party and Republicans still the party of the rich. Also, if you want to talk about limousine liberals, note that there is only one precinct in Manhattan where Republicans outnumber Democrats, the downtrodden southwest corner of the Upper East Side.

Poking through the GSS I will tell you what I’ve stated before: wealth/income and education have opposite independent effects when it comes to politics. All things controlled those with more money are more conservative and/or Republican. All things controlled those with more education are more liberal and/or Democrat. As a rule economic class status is much more salient as a predictor of politics for those without college degrees than those with college degrees. In plain English there’s a really strong tendency of those without college degrees who are in the upper income brackets to being conservative, and those in the lower income brackets to being liberal (at least in their voting patterns and alliances). The distribution is more uniform for those with college degrees.

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7 Responses to Democrats are the party of the lower class

  1. Tony says:

    This seems to be a somewhat complex way of saying that people with less money are likely to be much more interested in getting other people’s money (redistribution) therefor they are more likely to be liberal, while people with more money are more likely to be conservative because they’d like to keep their own money.
    Since college is basically a (sometimes FAR) leftist indoctrination camp where communism is almost glorified, political correctness is a religion, and different (non-liberal) views are almost stamped out by ridicule, biased information, class-intimidation, and speech code-tribunals, it’s kind of hard for most weak willed people to come out thinking capitalism is perfectly fine.

  2. Susan says:

    In my neck of the woods (New England/New York) the voting patterns of the rich often fall into two categories: old money/blueblood WASP pedigree leans Republican, while new money/no particular pedigree tends Democrat.

    Of course, since the nineteen-sixties you have to make an exception in the former category, that being for folks like Winthrop Winslow Farmington Saltonstall Cabot Lodge Adams Quincy XXVI, who become radical lefties in reaction to twenty generations of Tory forebears. When he’s not chaining himself to the fence outside the Seabrook nuclear power plant, or petitioning for the release of political prisoners (anyone in prison for being convicted of anything), he may be found doing sustainable organic farming and promoting locavorism in western Massachusetts.

  3. David Hume says:

    re: college. many college educated people are also dependent on the public sector. professionals like doctors and lawyers are integrated into the state cash-flow system even if they’re in private practice. additionally, these knowledge professions are often turned into guilds through licensing.

  4. Apathy Curve says:

    So the Horatio Algers tend to be Republicans, while burger-flippers with Art degrees tend to be Dims. No surprises there.

  5. Polichinello says:

    professionals like doctors and lawyers are integrated into the state cash-flow system even if they’re in private practice.

    You can add most of Wall Street to that mix, as well, along with no small number of bankers.

  6. cynthia curran says:

    Well, Dems have the extremes on education a lot of graduate degrees and a lot of high school drop outs since dems do better with low income single women, blacks and hispanics that tend to be high school drop outs. As for high income it varies, Marin County is Dem while Newport Beach, probably one of the richest towns in the us votes more Republician. Also, what interesting compared to 30 years ago, most pro-lifers were once Dems but with the 1980 presidential election moved over to the Repubs, so Dems have less of the white collar and blue collar religous whites like they did up until 1976.

  7. Mercer says:

    This is a good post. To make it even more accurate is it possible to factor in religion? I think many of the upper income whites are Jewish and that a measure of non Jewish high income whites would show an even stronger percentage of GOP voters.

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