Réponse:
Republicans and Democrats see little common ground between the two parties when it comes to issues, ideas and ideology. Majorities of partisans say the policy positions of the Republican and Democratic parties are very different, and neither Republicans nor Democrats say the other party has many good ideas.
In general terms, both Republicans and Democrats agree with their own party’s policies. In-party agreement extends to specific issues, such as policies to deal with the economy, health care and immigration.
Partisans broadly agree with own party’s policies across issue areasHowever, there are some issue areas – climate change for Republicans and policies to deal with ISIS for Democrats – where somewhat smaller majorities of partisans say they agree with their own party’s approach. Even then, few partisans express agreement with the other party on these issues.
Overall, about seven-in-ten Republicans (71%) and Democrats (70%) say they generally agree with their party’s positions almost always or more than half the time. Even larger majorities – 84% of Republicans and 82% of Democrats – disagree with the other party’s positions at least most of the time.
Most Republicans and Democrats also agree with their own party’s policies on a range of specific issues, including the economy, immigration, health care and policies to deal with the Islamic militant group in Iraq and Syria.
However, the shares agreeing with their own party vary by issue, and the patterns of agreement are different within the two parties.
Republicans are less likely to say they agree with their own party’s positions on climate change and abortion than they are to say this about other major issues. Overall, 65% strongly or somewhat agree with the Republican Party’s policies on abortion and 59% say they agree with the party’s approach to dealing with climate change. By contrast, larger majorities of Republicans agree with their party’s positions on illegal immigration (82%), the economy (80%) and gun policy (80%).
Among Democrats, the percentage that agrees with their party’s policies to deal with ISIS (67%) is smaller than the share agreeing with the Democratic Party’s stance on issues such as health care (84%), the economy (81%) and climate change (80%).
There is little evidence that the other party’s positions hold appeal for Republicans or Democrats, even on the issues for which agreement with one’s own party is relatively low.
For example, while a modest 59% of Republicans agree with their own party’s positions on climate change, just 9% say they agree with the Democratic Party’s policies on the issue; a much larger share (29%) say they don’t agree with either party on the issue. Similarly, 23% of Democrats say they do not agree with either party’s policies to deal with ISIS compared with just 7% who agree with the GOP’s policies (67% of Democrats agree with their own party on the issue).
Among Republicans, strong agreement with their own party is most concentrated on the issues of gun policy, illegal immigration and policies to deal with ISIS.
