In 1988 and again in 1998, Liberty conducted a detailed poll of libertarians, asking them more than a hundred questions about their backgrounds, behavior, beliefs and opinions. Taken together these surveys offer portraits of libertarians taken a decade apart, and insight into how libertarians are changing.What is your age?In the February Liberty we published a summary of the new survey's findings about libertarian opinion and belief, along with an analysis of the results. In this issue, we turn to the demographics of libertarians.
As in 1988, we learned that most libertarians are male, white, heterosexual, monogamous, married, well-educated, with fairly high income. They are mostly first-born. Most were raised in a religious environment, but do not consider themselves to be religious today. They are more likely to work in technical fields or in private business than most Americans, and far less likely to be government employees.
But in almost every way that libertarians varied from the norm for Americans in 1988, they varied less in 1998. In 1988, 100% of respondents were white; in 1998 only 95% were. In 1988, 95% were male; in 1998, only 90% were. In 1988, 59% hadn't attended church in more than 5 years; in 1998, only 41% had eschewed church for that long.
Here are the questions we asked, along with the responses:
Are you male or female?
1988 1998 65+ 5% 13% 60-64 3% 5% 55-59 6% 10% 50-54 5% 13% 45-49 5% 14% 40-44 16% 15% 35-39 31% 10% 30-34 18% 9% 25-29 5% 7% 20-24 6% 4% Ages of respondents range from 18 to 83. The mean age is 46.98 years, up from 40.37 in the 1988 poll, indicating that the libertarian movement is aging.
What is your race?
1988 1998 male 95% 90% female 5% 10%
Are you married?
1988 1998 white 100% 95% other 0% 5%
How many divorces have you had?
1988 1998 yes 53% 60% no 47% 40%
How many children have you had?
1988 1998 3+ — 1% 2 2% 7% 1 17% 26% 0 81% 66%
Are you first-born in your family, second-born, third-born, or later?
1988 1998 4+ 2% 9% 3 8% 11% 2 3% 21% 1 14% 10% 0 53% 49% The increasing age of respondents probably explains much of the increase in percentage of respondents who are married, the number of their divorces and number of their children.
What is your occupation? (Check as many as apply.)
1988 1998 first kid 56% 60% second kid 25% 21% third kid 12% 10% later 7% 9% This is one area where respondents varied considerably from the normal. If the respondents had been chosen at random from families of the same sizes as the families from which the respondents came (average: 2.99 siblings), approximately 45% would have been first-born. In actual fact, 60% were first-born — a variation of more than 33%. This is a substantial variation from the norm — but far less than the variation of 81% in 1988.
Here is the actual distribution of birth rank compared with the distribution that would be predicted by a random sampling of a group of families of the same size:
1988 1998 actual predicted actual predicted first kid 56% 31% 60% 45% second kid 25% 30% 21% 29% third kid 12% 19% 10% 15% later 7% 20% 9% 11%
What is the highest level of schooling you have completed?
1988 1998 Change government employee 10% 9% -10% law 5% 5% +0% non-profit organization 2% 1% -50% farming 2% 0% -100% teaching 6% 7% +17% factory 2% 1% -50% medical 8% 10% +25% investor 3% 4% +33% scientific/technical 13% 7% -46% small business 15% 23% +53% sales 2% 4% +100% managerial 6% 10% +67% engineering 13% 10% -23% computer science 26% 16% -38% There has been major change here: in 1988, 52% of respondents described their occupations as scientific/technical, engineering or computer science; in 1998, only 33% did.
Which of the following best describes your religious training as a child?
1988 1998 Doctoral degree 21% 16% Master's degree 13% 17% some grad school 16% 16% Bachelor's degree 24% 22% some college 18% 23% high school grad 6% 5% some high school 2% 1%
Do you consider yourself a follower of any religion today?
1988 1998 Roman Catholic 33% 25% Mainline Protestant 30% 37% Fundamentalist 7% 10% Jewish 10% 6% none 13% 14% other 7% 8%
How long ago did you most recently attend a church or other form of worship?
1988 1998 yes 23% 29% no 77% 71%
What is your annual income?
1988 1998 0-7 days 2% 13% 8-30 days 10% 7% 31-90 days 7% 7% 91-365 days 13% 10% 1-5 years 10% 21% longer 52% 40% never 7% 2%
How many years (if any) were you in the military?
(thousands) 1988 1998 $100+ 5% 20% $50-100 26% 32% $30-50 26% 20% $20-30 14% 14% $10-20 14% 8% $10 or less 16% 6%
Was your highest rank enlisted or officer? (Question only asked to those with military experience.)
1988 1998 0 73% 67% 1-2 13% 10% 3-4 8% 11% 5-6 3% 4% more 3% 8%
What is your sexual orientation?
1988 1998 enlisted 88% 35% officer 12% 65%
What is the predominant form of sexual activity that you engage in?
1988 1998 heterosexual 95% 90% homosexual 3% 6% bisexual 2% 3% other 0% 1%
How long have you been with your current partner?
1988 1998 monogamous 70% 70% autoerotic 16% 10% casual/promiscuous 7% 9% celibate 5% 7% polygamous 0% 4% group sex 2% 0%
What are the political beliefs of your current partner?
1988 1998 0-1 years 13% 9% 2-4 years 15% 15% 5-10 years 30% 20% 11-20 years 20% 26% 20+ years 23% 30%
Do you belong to any community groups?
1988 1998 active libertarian 5% 15% quasi-libertarian 24% 27% passive libertarian 38% 33% non-libertarian 32% 25%
Do you belong to any political organizations?
1988 1998 yes 18% 26% no 82% 74%
Do you give money to libertarian causes? Humanitarian causes? Cultural causes? Religious organizations?
1988 1998 yes 45% 57% no 55% 43%
Do you talk to acquaintances about libertarianism?
1988 1998 libertarian 87% 82% humanitarian 53% 44% cultural 37% 33% religious 15% 26%
What percentage, if any, respond favorably?
1988 1998 yes 76% 92% no 24% 8%
Do you speak in public about libertarian ideas?
1988 1998 80%+ 9% 6% 55-75% 13% 10% 35-50% 16% 24% 20-30% 20% 17% 10-15% 16% 12% 1-5% 13% 4% 0% 13% 3%
Are you a registered voter? Have you ever run for political office?
1988 1998 yes 23% 35% no 77% 65%
1988 1998 registered voter 81% 90% run for office 24% 19%