UMass Amherst Poll Finds Cracks in GOP’s MAGA Base, as Many Democrats Shun DSA Label while Embracing its Policies
September 10, 2026
The new poll also asked when—if ever—America was truly at “its greatest”
Executive Summary
The MAGA base that has helped build Republican power in the U.S. for the past decade is showing signs of cracking, while the tenets of democratic socialism may soon become the basis of the Democratic party, the latest national University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll has found. The survey, conducted Aug. 21-26, has found a 9-percentage point drop among Republicans who identify with the MAGA movement since the last survey was conducted in March. The most significant drop—6 percentage points—came among those who reported only “somewhat” identified as MAGA, while those who “very much” identified as MAGA fell 3 percentage points.
The poll found that the Republicans most likely to identify as MAGA were those with educational attainment of a high school degree or less, those making less than $100,000 a year, and those over the age of 55. Among moderate Republicans, there was a nearly even split, with 51% identifying as MAGA and 49% not, and only 13% of moderates said they were “very much” MAGA.
The latest UMass Poll also asked respondents a question that goes to the heart of the MAGA movement: when was the United States “its greatest?” Republicans disproportionately focus on two decades—the 1980s and the 1950s—while pluralities of all respondents, Democrats, independents and African Americans said that America “never was great.”
Finally, in addition to surveying the state of MAGA among Republicans, the new UMass Poll also investigated the views on policies aligned with democratic socialism and the rising DSA movement among Democrats. While identification with the DSA remains unpopular among Americans overall, 54% of Democrats say they identify at least somewhat with the movement, including majorities of key members of the Democratic base such as women, young people, college graduates, liberals and African Americans. A majority also supports important planks of the DSA platform, including government-run health care, increased taxes on wealthy Americans, and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet citizenship requirements and break no laws.
Identification with MAGA
"In just 10 short years, Donald Trump and his Make America Great Again movement have radically reshaped the Republican Party, with the Grand Old Party now reflecting President Trump’s agenda, ideology, and worldview,” says Tatishe Nteta, provost professor of political science at UMass Amherst and director of the poll. “However, in the wake of President Trump’s decision to attack Iran, his failure to successfully address the affordability crisis, and his reluctance to release all of the information associated with his one-time friend, Jeffrey Epstein, a number of prominent members of the MAGA movement, including Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Candace Owens, have broken with the president and renounced their allegiance to MAGA. While a majority of Republicans continue to say they identify at least somewhat with the MAGA movement, that number has decreased by 9 percentage points since we last polled in March. With no end in sight to the nation’s high prices or the war in Iran, and with prominent conservative commentators continuing to challenge the president, the question is whether these disagreements are simply temporary cracks in the MAGA foundation or the beginning of a more fundamental unraveling of the movement."
When was America Great?
“Since Donald Trump descended the golden escalator in New York City and announced his candidacy for president by declaring that he would ‘make America great again,’ critics of Trump and the MAGA movement have wondered what golden age they envision as the ideal to which America should return. Our poll provides an answer,” Nteta says. “Republicans, conservatives, Trump voters, and strong MAGA identifiers are all significantly more likely to say the 1980s were the decade when America was at its greatest. Given Trump’s own emergence as a national celebrity during the 1980s and the decade’s influence on his political worldview, it may be less than surprising that MAGA’s vision of making America great again looks so much like a return to the America of the 1980s.”
“Republicans disproportionately focus on two decades: the 1980s and the 1950s,” says Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll. “These choices make sense. In essence, the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan is about nostalgia, a call to return to an idealized past. For many Republicans, these two decades embody this mythologized past. The 1980s were a triumphalist era, in which the Reagan and Bush administrations celebrated American power and patriotism. The 1950s are even more idealized in the American imagination as a period of economic prosperity and social consensus. In reality, of course, neither decade matches the mythology. But these imagined eras present an appealing contrast to today’s hyperpolarized politics.”
Raymond La Raja, professor of political science at UMass Amherst and co-director of the poll, notes that while the 1980s was the most popular decade named in the survey among Republicans, it wasn’t actually the most popular choice among all of the poll’s 1,000 respondents—pluralities of all respondents (20%), Democrats (32%), independents (26%) and African Americans (32%) said that America “never was great.”
Identification with DSA
In addition to surveying the state of MAGA among Republicans, the new UMass Poll also investigated the views on policies aligned with democratic socialism and the rising DSA movement among Democrats.
“While identification with the DSA remains unpopular among Americans overall, 54% of Democrats say they identify at least somewhat with the movement, including majorities of women (56%), young people (68%), college graduates (63% college grad, 69% postgrad), liberals (73%) and African Americans (56%), key members of the Democratic base. The question now is whether these primary results and the views of Democratic voters represent isolated signs of discontent or the early stages of a broader transformation of the Democratic Party. If these results are indeed a canary in the coal mine, the message for Democratic leaders is clear: they should be paying close attention to what their voters are telling them or risk facing the same fate as the incumbents who were defeated this year.”
“Although the Democratic Socialists of America have become a major topic of conversation among political pundits and those highly engaged in politics, many Americans are still unfamiliar with the movement and don’t have strong feelings about it,” explains Rhodes. “Among those who do, the most common attitudes are fear and concern about creeping ‘socialism’ or ‘communism’ on the left. That said, others who are familiar with the DSA endorse its self-proclaimed efforts to redistribute wealth and check the power of corporations, donors, and elites. In this period of uncertainty and change in American society, it should be no surprise that some Americans are attracted to left-wing politics.
Support for DSA-Related Policies
“A majority supports important planks of the DSA platform,” Rhodes says, “including government-run health care (53%), increased taxes on wealthy Americans (60%), and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet citizenship requirements and break no laws (59%). A plurality of Americans also supports ending U.S. military aid to Israel (49%). Of course, some of the DSA’s planks—like allowing noncitizens to vote (55% oppose)—are very unpopular, but the popularity of some of the DSA’s platform planks explains why some individual politicians associated with the movement have been able to draw significant support and even win some notable elections. These figures have strategically emphasized the DSA’s more popular proposals while downplaying its more extreme planks. I anticipate that more Democrats will selectively adopt some of the DSA’s popular proposals to court voters, many of whom seem open to specific left-wing policies, if not the DSA’s platform in full.”
“The relative popularity of these policies may help explain why DSA-affiliated candidates, such as Michigan’s Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, have sought to distance themselves from the DSA label and instead make these policies the centerpiece of their campaigns,” says Nteta. “Whether this strategy will resonate with voters on Election Day remains to be seen, but what is clear is that the DSA label and the signature policies associated with the movement occupy very different places in the minds of Americans.”
Methodology
- Field Dates: August 21 –26, 2026
- Sample: 1,000 Respondents
- Margin of Error: 3.5%
The respondents were matched to a sampling frame on gender, age, race, and education. The sampling frame was constructed by stratified sampling from the full 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) 1-year sample with selection within strata by weighted sampling with replacements (using the person weights on the public use file).
The matched cases were weighted to the sampling frame using propensity scores. The matched cases and the frame were combined and a logistic regression was estimated for inclusion in the frame. The propensity score function included age, gender, race/ethnicity, years of education, region, and home ownership. The propensity scores were grouped into deciles of the estimated propensity score in the frame and post-stratified according to these deciles.
The weights were then raked (iterative proportional fitting) on 2024 presidential vote choice and post-stratified using a four-way stratification of gender, age (4-categories), race (4-categories), and education (4-categories), to produce the final weight.
Read more about the UMass Poll's methodology
Read more about the contributing members of the UMass Poll team
Toplines & Crosstabs
View the toplines from the September 10, 2026 National Public Opinion Poll release regarding MAGA UPDATE THIS LANGUAGE
This PDF contains the official toplines and crosstabs from this poll. Toplines are the raw question‑and‑answer results from the poll—showing exactly how people answered each question before any analysis or interpretation is added. Crosstabs break the raw question-and-answer results out by different groups of respondents, such as age, gender, or party affiliation, showing how answers vary across the population.
MAGA Identification responses by party affiliation and survey wave (N=1,000)
Do you identify with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement?
| Response | Aug. 2026 All (N=1,000) | Mar. 2026 All (N=1,000) | Aug. 2026 Republicans (N=341) | Mar. 2026 Republicans (N=316) | Aug. 2026 Democrats (N=440) | Mar. 2026 Democrats (N=397) | Aug. 2026 Independents (N=219) | Mar. 2026 Independents (N=287) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not At All | 69% | 67% | 32% | 23% | 97% | 96% | 85% | 78% |
| Somewhat | 18% | 21% | 37% | 43% | 3% | 4% | 13% | 18% |
| Very Much | 12% | 12% | 31% | 34% | 0% | 0% | 2% | 3% |
MAGA Identification (Among Republican Identifiers Only)
MAGA identification responses by demographic subgroup among Republican party identifiers
| Demographic Category | Subgroup | Very Much | Somewhat | Not At All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Men | 32% | 38% | 30% |
| Women | 30% | 36% | 34% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 25% | 29% | 46% |
| 30-54 | 23% | 38% | 39% | |
| >55 | 38% | 39% | 23% | |
| Education | HS or less | 37% | 32% | 31% |
| Some Coll. | 36% | 42% | 22% | |
| Coll. Deg. | 24% | 40% | 37% | |
| Postgrad | 25% | 39% | 36% | |
| Income | <$40k | 39% | 30% | 32% |
| $40k–$100k | 31% | 35% | 34% | |
| >$100k | 23% | 44% | 33% | |
| Party ID | Rep. | 31% | 37% | 32% |
| Ideology | Lib | 0% | 30% | 70% |
| Mod. | 16% | 35% | 49% | |
| Cons. | 36% | 38% | 26% | |
| Race | White | 33% | 39% | 29% |
| African American | 36% | 15% | 48% | |
| Latino | 17% | 45% | 38% | |
| Asian | 30% | 40% | 31% | |
| 2024 Vote | Harris | 13% | 0% | 87% |
| Trump | 36% | 38% | 26% |
When Was America At Its Greatest (N=1,000)
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the desire to return to a time when America was great. Using the scale below, please identify the decade when you believe America was at the height of its greatness.
| Decade | All (N=1,000) | Republicans (N=341) | Democrats (N=440) | Independents (N=219) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1940s | 4% | 6% | 3% | 3% |
| 1950s | 13% | 18% | 8% | 11% |
| 1960s | 7% | 11% | 6% | 5% |
| 1970s | 5% | 7% | 4% | 3% |
| 1980s | 17% | 26% | 11% | 11% |
| 1990s | 13% | 13% | 11% | 15% |
| 2000s | 8% | 6% | 8% | 11% |
| 2010s | 5% | 2% | 9% | 3% |
| 2020s | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Never was great | 20% | 4% | 32% | 26% |
| Other (Text Box) | 8% | 8% | 8% | 11% |
When Was America Greatest
Percentage selecting each decade or response, by demographic subgroup.
| Demographic Category | Subgroup | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s | Never | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Men | 6% | 16% | 8% | 4% | 14% | 14% | 7% | 4% | 1% | 15% | 9% |
| Women | 2% | 9% | 6% | 6% | 19% | 11% | 9% | 6% | 1% | 24% | 8% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 3% | 7% | 2% | 5% | 7% | 10% | 13% | 10% | 1% | 32% | 11% |
| 30-54 | 4% | 9% | 7% | 4% | 14% | 19% | 8% | 5% | 1% | 22% | 7% | |
| >55 | 5% | 18% | 11% | 6% | 24% | 7% | 5% | 2% | 1% | 11% | 9% | |
| Education | HS or less | 3% | 11% | 10% | 6% | 20% | 10% | 10% | 4% | 0% | 17% | 8% |
| Some Coll. | 3% | 15% | 5% | 3% | 15% | 12% | 8% | 5% | 2% | 25% | 9% | |
| Coll. Deg. | 5% | 13% | 6% | 6% | 13% | 15% | 7% | 5% | 2% | 19% | 9% | |
| Postgrad | 6% | 13% | 6% | 2% | 17% | 15% | 3% | 5% | 0% | 23% | 9% | |
| Income | <$40k | 4% | 11% | 8% | 4% | 18% | 10% | 11% | 5% | 1% | 21% | 7% |
| $40k–$100k | 3% | 13% | 7% | 7% | 17% | 13% | 7% | 3% | 1% | 21% | 9% | |
| >$100k | 6% | 15% | 7% | 4% | 15% | 15% | 6% | 7% | 1% | 14% | 10% | |
| Party ID | Dem. | 3% | 8% | 6% | 4% | 11% | 11% | 8% | 9% | 1% | 32% | 8% |
| Ind. | 3% | 11% | 5% | 3% | 11% | 15% | 11% | 3% | 1% | 26% | 11% | |
| Rep. | 6% | 18% | 11% | 7% | 26% | 13% | 6% | 2% | 1% | 4% | 8% | |
| Ideology | Lib | 3% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 8% | 8% | 6% | 11% | 0% | 41% | 9% |
| Mod. | 3% | 13% | 8% | 2% | 17% | 20% | 10% | 4% | 2% | 15% | 7% | |
| Cons. | 7% | 19% | 11% | 8% | 24% | 9% | 6% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 9% | |
| Race | White | 5% | 16% | 8% | 4% | 18% | 13% | 6% | 5% | 1% | 16% | 9% |
| African American | 1% | 0% | 2% | 7% | 20% | 9% | 17% | 6% | 2% | 32% | 5% | |
| Latino | 2% | 6% | 5% | 8% | 14% | 15% | 11% | 3% | 2% | 22% | 12% | |
| Asian | 1% | 12% | 8% | 4% | 12% | 23% | 2% | 5% | 1% | 24% | 6% | |
| 2024 Vote | Harris | 4% | 8% | 6% | 3% | 9% | 14% | 7% | 7% | 1% | 31% | 9% |
| Trump | 6% | 21% | 11% | 6% | 26% | 9% | 5% | 1% | 1% | 4% | 10% | |
| MAGA | Not At All | 6% | 11% | 8% | 11% | 17% | 20% | 9% | 1% | 1% | 9% | 7% |
| Somewhat | 4% | 19% | 11% | 5% | 30% | 12% | 5% | 2% | 1% | 0% | 10% | |
| Very Much | 7% | 24% | 13% | 6% | 28% | 5% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 6% | |
| DSA | Not At All | 4% | 7% | 5% | 4% | 14% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 1% | 25% | 7% |
| Somewhat | 3% | 10% | 6% | 4% | 9% | 11% | 5% | 8% | 1% | 35% | 10% | |
| Very Much | 5% | 5% | 11% | 2% | 5% | 5% | 7% | 11% | 0% | 46% | 3% |
DSA Identification responses by party affiliation (N=1,000)
Do you identify with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement?
| Response | All (N=1,000) | Republicans (N=341) | Democrats (N=440) | Independents (N=218) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not At All | 72% | 96% | 46% | 77% |
| Somewhat | 22% | 4% | 42% | 18% |
| Very Much | 6% | 0% | 12% | 5% |
DSA Identification (Among Democratic Identifiers Only)
DSA identification responses by demographic subgroup among Democratic party identifiers.
| Demographic Category | Subgroup | Very Much | Somewhat | Not At All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Men | 12% | 39% | 49% |
| Women | 12% | 44% | 44% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 25% | 43% | 31% |
| 30-54 | 12% | 37% | 51% | |
| >55 | 5% | 46% | 50% | |
| Education | HS or less | 8% | 29% | 63% |
| Some Coll. | 14% | 45% | 42% | |
| Coll. Deg. | 16% | 47% | 37% | |
| Postgrad | 12% | 57% | 31% | |
| Income | <$40k | 11% | 35% | 55% |
| $40k–$100k | 12% | 42% | 46% | |
| >$100k | 15% | 45% | 40% | |
| Party ID | Dem. | 12% | 42% | 46% |
| Ideology | Lib | 19% | 54% | 27% |
| Mod. | 4% | 26% | 71% | |
| Cons. | 5% | 50% | 45% | |
| Race | White | 12% | 45% | 43% |
| African American | 7% | 49% | 44% | |
| Latino | 15% | 23% | 62% | |
| Asian | 9% | 37% | 54% | |
| 2024 Vote | Harris | 13% | 49% | 39% |
| Trump | 0% | 26% | 74% |
Awareness of the DSA movement by party affiliation (N=1,000)
How much have you read, seen, or heard about the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement?
| Response | All (N=1,000) | Republicans (N=341) | Democrats (N=440) | Independents (N=219) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Lot | 22% | 31% | 18% | 13% |
| Some | 30% | 29% | 33% | 27% |
| Not Much | 20% | 19% | 23% | 18% |
| I have not heard of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement | 28% | 21% | 26% | 42% |
Open Ended Responses on DSA (N=732)*
Only asked of respondents who have heard of DSA.
In a sentence or two, please explain what the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement means to you.
| Theme | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Socialism as an existential threat to America | 23% |
| Economic justice: redistribution, workers, and social programs | 18% |
| A wing of the left: descriptive placement on the political map | 15% |
| Too extreme, naive, or unworkable | 11% |
| Anti-establishment renewal: people over corporations and donors | 8% |
| Residual: no answer, don’t know, or vague positive or negative evaluations without thematic content | 26% |
DSA Policies (N=1,000)
Do you support or oppose . . .
| Policy | Strongly Support | Somewhat Support | Neither Support Nor Oppose | Somewhat Oppose | Strongly Oppose |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Replacing private health insurance with a government-run health insurance system that provides health care to everyone at no cost when they receive care. | 33% | 20% | 19% | 8% | 20% |
| Redirecting funding for state and local police departments toward supporting social and mental health services? | 21% | 22% | 24% | 13% | 20% |
| Establishing the public ownership of major corporations and industries? | 13% | 18% | 37% | 11% | 20% |
| Increasing taxes on wealthy Americans? | 44% | 16% | 19% | 8% | 12% |
| Ending military aid to Israel? | 32% | 17% | 27% | 11% | 13% |
| The establishment of a free nation state of Palestine? | 23% | 15% | 42% | 6% | 15% |
| Allowing immigrants who are living in the United States illegally to become citizens if they meet citizenship requirements and commit no crimes? | 36% | 23% | 15% | 8% | 18% |
| Establishing full voting rights for noncitizen U.S. permanent residents? | 10% | 14% | 21% | 14% | 41% |
DSA Policies (% Support)
Percentage supporting each DSA-related policy position, by demographic subgroup.
| Demographic Category | Subgroup | Government-run health care system | Redirecting funding for state and local police | Public ownership of major corporations | Increase taxes on wealthy | End military aid to Israel | Establish free nation state of Palestine | Citizenship for undocumented immigrants | Voting rights for noncitizens |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | Men | 50% | 42% | 31% | 56% | 52% | 42% | 54% | 23% |
| Women | 57% | 44% | 32% | 65% | 46% | 35% | 64% | 24% | |
| Age | 18-29 | 59% | 50% | 41% | 66% | 62% | 48% | 70% | 35% |
| 30-54 | 59% | 48% | 33% | 59% | 51% | 40% | 59% | 24% | |
| >55 | 44% | 34% | 26% | 58% | 41% | 31% | 55% | 19% | |
| Education | HS or less | 52% | 42% | 27% | 57% | 45% | 29% | 56% | 26% |
| Some Coll. | 54% | 38% | 29% | 63% | 49% | 42% | 60% | 25% | |
| Coll. Deg. | 56% | 45% | 38% | 64% | 54% | 46% | 58% | 22% | |
| Postgrad | 49% | 46% | 31% | 58% | 47% | 42% | 72% | 22% | |
| Income | <$40k | 59% | 46% | 33% | 64% | 45% | 34% | 61% | 30% |
| $40k–$100k | 53% | 43% | 32% | 61% | 52% | 42% | 58% | 23% | |
| >$100k | 44% | 36% | 27% | 54% | 48% | 40% | 59% | 17% | |
| Party ID | Dem. | 79% | 61% | 43% | 87% | 65% | 59% | 83% | 38% |
| Ind. | 55% | 47% | 31% | 62% | 55% | 37% | 63% | 27% | |
| Rep. | 25% | 21% | 20% | 31% | 28% | 16% | 33% | 7% | |
| Ideology | Lib | 88% | 71% | 54% | 92% | 76% | 74% | 88% | 44% |
| Mod. | 52% | 41% | 25% | 64% | 51% | 33% | 65% | 23% | |
| Cons. | 24% | 19% | 20% | 30% | 28% | 17% | 32% | 10% | |
| Race | White | 48% | 37% | 30% | 58% | 46% | 38% | 56% | 20% |
| African American | 76% | 63% | 32% | 67% | 49% | 34% | 72% | 40% | |
| Latino | 65% | 49% | 39% | 64% | 58% | 38% | 64% | 29% | |
| Asian | 44% | 49% | 33% | 55% | 35% | 42% | 58% | 23% | |
| 2024 Vote | Harris | 82% | 61% | 45% | 90% | 71% | 64% | 85% | 35% |
| Trump | 18% | 16% | 15% | 26% | 28% | 17% | 29% | 6% | |
| MAGA | Not At All | 36% | 25% | 22% | 45% | 36% | 27% | 46% | 7% |
| Somewhat | 20% | 17% | 16% | 27% | 31% | 9% | 26% | 7% | |
| Very Much | 21% | 21% | 23% | 22% | 17% | 14% | 27% | 7% | |
| DSA | Not At All | 68% | 49% | 29% | 80% | 54% | 43% | 74% | 29% |
| Somewhat | 88% | 68% | 49% | 93% | 71% | 70% | 89% | 41% | |
| Very Much | 91% | 85% | 74% | 96% | 89% | 84% | 91% | 62% |
Demographic Breakdown of the University of Massachusetts Amherst August 2026 National Poll
Sample composition by demographic characteristics.
| Demographic Group | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Men | 49% |
| Women | 51% |
| 18-29 | 20% |
| 30-54 | 41% |
| >55 | 39% |
| HS or less | 37% |
| Some Coll. | 18% |
| Coll. Deg. | 32% |
| Postgrad | 13% |
| <$40K | 36% |
| $40K–$100K | 38% |
| >$100K | 26% |
| Democrat | 40% |
| Independent | 22% |
| Republican | 38% |
| Liberal | 29% |
| Moderate | 35% |
| Conservative | 36% |
| White | 70% |
| African American | 13% |
| Hispanic | 12% |
| Asian | 5% |
| Harris | 49% |
| Trump | 51% |
| Not at all MAGA | 32% |
| Somewhat MAGA | 37% |
| Very Much MAGA | 31% |
| Not at all DSA | 46% |
| Somewhat DSA | 42% |
| Very Much DSA | 12% |
Thematic Analysis of Open Ended Question on DSA
Data. 732 respondents who expressed responses to the open ended question, “In a sentence or two, please explain what the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) movement means to you.”
Method. Inductive thematic coding was conducted across all respondents. Five substantive themes were derived, plus a sixth residual category for responses that state no interpretable reason (Don’t know/Missing). Each response is assigned to exactly one theme; where a response raised. All quotations are verbatim, including original spelling, capitalization, and profanity.
Theme 1. Socialism as an existential threat to America (N=168)
These respondents understand the DSA through the words “socialism” or “communism” and treat these as fundamental threats to the United States. Respondents in this category sometimes invoke a foreign referent such as Soviet Russia, China, Cuba, or Venezuela.
Illustrative Response:
“Tyrrany and becoming poor. I have ABSOLUTELY NO interest in someone taking my hardearned savings away and giving it to someone else who has not worked for it which is exactly what socialism is.”
Theme 2. Economic justice: redistribution, workers, and social programs (N=128)
These respondents have a positive view of DSA, and view it through the lens of redistributive social policies in the areas of health care, education, housing, and the minimum wage, grounded in taxation of the wealthy. They also view the DSA as supportive of labor unions and protective of existing social policies such as Social Security.
Illustrative Response:
“It means advocating for an economy and society where working people democratically control major economic drivers to meet human needs rather than corporate profits.”
Theme 3. A wing of the left: descriptive placement on the political map (N=108)
These respondents answer the question by describing the DSA, particularly in relation to the Democratic Party. Respondents in this theme view the DSA as the far left of the Democratic Party, a more progressive wing of the party, a socialist group within the Democratic Party, a movement to push the party to the left, and so forth.
Illustrative Response:
“This movement is a more progressive break-off from the traditional Democratic Party, which is currently leaning more centrist.”
Theme 4. Too extreme, naive, or unworkable (N=77)
Respondents in this theme express some sympathy for the DSA’s vision and goals, but fear that the movement goes too far, recommends unworkable policies, and/or lacks a realistic plan to enact its vision.
Illustrative Response:
“Some positions are worthwhile, but— as is common today— they go too far too often”
Theme 5. Anti-establishment renewal: people over corporations and donors (N=60)
Respondents in this theme perceive the DSA as promising a renewal of American politics in which government reflects the interests of ordinary people, rather than corporations, donors, or the wealthy. These respondents believe the DSA will restore “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
Illustrative Response:
“It means getting back to a time when the US government served the people instead of corporations or the rich.”
Residual Category (N=459)
n = 459 (45.9% of all respondents; 26.1% of those answering)
The residual has two quite different parts that should be considered separately. The first is the 375 respondents who did not provide a response or explicitly said “don’t know”, “nothing”, and so forth. The second is a small number of respondents (84) who offered vague negative (“idiots”, “morons”, “joke”) or positive (“change for the better”, “they are the good guys”, “a breath of fresh air”) evaluations with no substantive content.
Illustrative Responses:
“I don’t know what that is” [103]
“bunch of idiot” [78]
Contact for This Poll
Director of UMass Poll
Related News
The new poll finds Trump’s overall approval down to 32%, as Republican approval of the president has fallen 14 points since April and 1 in 6 Trump voters say they would not vote for him again
Democrats and Republicans largely agree on what constitutes corruption, but partisan loyalties change how they judge identical presidential behavior
Want a deeper understanding of American public opinion? Then the UMass Poll’s Substack is for you. Drawing on data from the UMass Poll, Tatishe Nteta, Jesse Rhodes, Raymond La Raja, and Alex Theodoridis go beyond “horse race” polling and job approval measures to provide fresh insights into what Americans are thinking, and why.
Nteta, Rhodes, La Raja, and Theodoridis are well-known political scientists and survey researchers with extensive experience analyzing and explaining patterns in American public opinion. Their research and commentary have been featured in prominent national media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Politico, CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC.
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and publication archives.