The Cato Institute

#CatoConnects: Findings from Democracy Fund Voter Study Group

There is no such thing as “one kind of Trump voter.” On Tuesday, June 20th, use #CatoConnects to tweet your questions about recently released new data and analysis exploring voter perceptions before and after the 2016 election.

During the intense political division of the 2016 presidential campaign, the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group, a new research collaboration of nearly two dozen analysts and scholars from across the political spectrum, began collaborating across ideological lines to examine the underlying values and opinions that influence voter decision-making.

The expert group commissioned a new survey of 8,000 adults who had participated in similar surveys in mid-2016, 2011, and 2012. This unique longitudinal data set provides the basis for four new reports analyzing many of the most hotly-debated subjects of the presidential election, including economic stress, trade, race, immigration, and the evolution of the parties. During this special #CatoConnects experts who participated in this Democracy Fund project will be providing analysis and results from this study.

Emily Ekins, research fellow at The Cato Institute and a member of the study group, created a “typology” of Trump voters finding five unique groups: American Preservationists (20%), Staunch Conservatives (31%), Anti-Elites (19%), Free Marketeers (25%), and the Disengaged (5%). Despite media narratives seeking out a single explanation of the Trump vote, these results indicate there is no such thing as “one kind of Trump voter” who voted for him for one single reason.

Rob Griffin, Senior Policy Analyst of Progressive Studies at Center for American Progress and another member of the study group, also finds that long-term economic stress combined with anxieties over immigration and cultural concerns, profoundly shaped the 2016 election. Ekins will discuss this and her findings that have several implications from the libertarian perspective.

This event will occur online. Watch it live at www.cato.org/live and join the conversation on Twitter using #CatoConnects.

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Women’s Equality Day

Happy Women’s Equality Day! On this day in 1920, women were granted the right to vote when the 19th amendment was certified by law. In honor of this occasion read Cato research on feminism and women in the libertarian movement. 

“A so-called “libertarian moment” can only be helped along by expanded appeal among women, and among feminist-minded folks of all genders. Individual rights are at the heart of feminism. It’s time for libertarians to reclaim that.” — Elizabeth Nolan Brown at libertarianismdotorg

“A libertarian must necessarily be a feminist, in the sense of being an advocate of equality under the law for all men and women.” — David Boaz in huffingtonpost