Politics Dominates American Public Life But Doesn’t Define Who We Are as Americans

Thanks to the 24/7 news cycle and endless debating and sniping on social media, politics has become an ever-present background noise in our daily lives. Historian Anton Jäger calls this wider condition hyperpolitics: Political engagement runs high while the parties and civic institutions that once provided a basis for community and solidarity have weakened. But that political noise may obscure how Americans actually see themselves.

A new national Wheatley Institute survey of American adults finds that politics dominates public life but not Americans’ sense of self. We asked Americans about nine identities that might be central to their sense of self. They ranked political affiliation at the bottom. The list of identities included race, nationality, gender, politics, religion, family identities like son or daughter, mother or father, and divine creation or child of God. This finding is consistent with earlier research. A 2018 YouGov survey asked Americans to weigh parent, spouse, religion, and career as parts of their identity— and political party ranked last there, too.

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About the Author

Shima Baughman

Shima Baradaran Baughman is the Woodruff J. Deem Professor of Law at BYU Law School and Distinguished Fellow at the Wheatley Institute.

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About the Author

Paul Lambert

Paul W. Lambert is the director of the Wheatley Institute Religion and Human Flourishing Initiative.

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Thanks to the 24/7 news cycle and endless debating and sniping on social media, politics has become an ever-present background noise in our daily lives. Historian Anton Jäger calls this wider condition hyperpolitics: Political engagement runs high while the parties and civic institutions that once provided a basis for community and solidarity have weakened. But that political noise may obscure how Americans actually see themselves.

A new national Wheatley Institute survey of American adults finds that politics dominates public life but not Americans’ sense of self. We asked Americans about nine identities that might be central to their sense of self. They ranked political affiliation at the bottom. The list of identities included race, nationality, gender, politics, religion, family identities like son or daughter, mother or father, and divine creation or child of God. This finding is consistent with earlier research. A 2018 YouGov survey asked Americans to weigh parent, spouse, religion, and career as parts of their identity— and political party ranked last there, too.