Poll: 11 Percent of Americans Identify as Libertarian
That's 14 percent of political independents, 12 percent of Republicans, and 6 percent of Democrats.
Even the Pew Research Center has gotten caught up in this libertarian moment debate. The organization conducted a poll, as it does, and found that some 11 percent of Americans self-identify as "libertarian", including 14 percent of political independents, 12 percent of Republicans, and 6 percent of Democrats.
The findings come from Pew's political typology and polarization survey and its American Trends Panel survey, both conducted earlier this year. Respondents were asked whether the term libertarian describes them well and, in a separate question, asked to choose whether "someone whose political views emphasize individual freedom by limiting the role of government" would be correctly described as a libertarian, progressive, authoritarian, Unitarian, or communist. About 14 percent of respondents self-described as libertarian, but only 11 percent both said so and could properly identify the term.
Of this 11 percent, men were (shock!) more prevalent than women. About 15 percent of all male respondents identified as libertarian and knew what the term meant, compared to 7 percent of female respondents.
