Work

Americans’ ideological differences have decreased by race, increased by education

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Racial differences in partisan vote have been studied extensively, with recent work documenting shifts in longstanding differences. Recently, attention has shifted to education as a dividing line in American politics. I analyze data from extremely large surveys in each of the last five presidential election years, focusing on the average ideological positions of racial and educational subgroups. I show that ideological differences have decreased sharply by race, driven primarily by Blacks becoming more conservative, but also Hispanics moving to the right. Over the same time period, differences in average ideology by education have grown dramatically, with less educated Americans being much more conservative and more educated Americans being much more liberal. These trends by education have occurred across different racial groups, but have been most dramatic among whites.

Source: PNAS Nexus

DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag102

Author: Stephen Jessee

Institution: The University of Texas at Austin

Language: English

Topic: Electoral Systems and Political Participation

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $4,202