Are Republican voters less intelligent than Democrats?

Question

As an English person but a keen watcher of the US and observing questions and answers from Americans on here, it seems to me that those with strongly Republican views seem to be less articulate, less able to grasp and interpret complex issues, possibly less intelligent, than Democrats.
Could any Americans on here make known to me their political allegiances and educational level, so we can get a feel for whether this is true?

Answer 1

Quite the contrary. Look at the demographics for each group. Republican (Conservative) voters tend to be older, educated in the sciences and business, religious and traditionally family oriented. Republicans embrace the free market system and capitalisim. Republicans prefer "small government" and would prefer people to require less government assistance programs thereby reducing the tax burden on the public.

Conversely, the typical Democrat (Liberal) voter tends to be younger, educated in the arts and humanities, generally non-religious or non-practicing and open to alternative family values (i.e. gay marriage). Democrats gererally favor entitlement programs such as welfare and support tax increases to support these programs. This last attribute is sometimes referred to the "Robin Hood" mentality because it is percieved that it is robbing from the rich to give to the poor.

There is also the matter of race ... minorities (Black/Hispanic) tend to vote democratic.

Of course these are very broad statements because there is crossover, but these are generally the primary dividing lines.

To say one in more or less intelligent than the other would be ridiculous. I would say that it would be more accurate to say that the two sides have widely different views on what is "right" and "wrong" and also what is "fair" and "not fair."

I am a registered Independant who tends to vote republican. I hold a bachelors degree in engineering and two associates degrees in the arts.

Answer 2

I think you are confusing intelligence with education. I am an independent and have noticed that the extremest on both sides like to cast insults back and forth in stead of reasoning things out. In Ohio most of the Democrats are from the inner city which traditionally have a high rate of poverty, crime and a high rate of students dropping out of school. The Republicans are usually in the suburbs and rural areas which usually has a higher income level,more professional people that tend to have more formal education and a higher percentage of students graduating. A lot of the issues in politics are more emotional to a lot of people and emotions tends to overrule intelligence most of the time. I hop this helps you get a feel for what is true.

Answer 3

I have an engineering degree from Penn State and I am a Conservative.

That being said, Republican politicians usually share more political views with me than Democrats do. Not always, as you can see from the last elections.

Democrats would like you to believe the results of the last elections were due to the American people telling DC they were against the war. Not so. The results were due to Conservatives refusing to keep the Republicans in office because they didn't do what we voted them into office to do in the first place.

Republicans had a golden opportunity to advance the Conservative agenda. But instead, they allowed the Democrats to bog them down, and they compromised their values way too much.

That is why they lost. They lost our votes.

And in general: Republican = pro-business, college educated, church going, normal people. Democratic = angry students/clueless professors fighting "the system," convinced the government is abusing the working class, insistent on welfare-state programs to help said working class to the detriment of the rich and hard working.

Answer 4

I am a Democrat and I have a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, but there is no way to determine anything from a random sampling on Yahoo Answers.

I think it's great that you take an interest in U.S. politics, but it's unfair to make generalizations about people. For example, I know Democrats and Republicans who never finished college, but are very intelligent and politically aware. I also know Democrats and Republicans that have Masters degrees or even PhDs, but they get all of their information about politics from the garbage on cable news.

Answer 5

I consider myself an Independent, and will vote for the person I feel is most qualified for the job regardless of their political affiliation. I have a college degree in electronics, and am a certified jeweler.
I do not believe its a matter of education ,but one of beliefs. Republicans are driven more by religious beliefs, and moral convictions which are usually black and white. Democrats tend to follow the concept of fair play, and look out for the underdog.
Neither is right , since life is lived in shades of gray, and the underdog can always bite you.

Answer 6

incorrect. Its ironic you're making a element approximately guidance yet cant even examine a ballot wisely. The dispersement of guidance is of a extra physically powerful point with the republicans. You omit thoroughly the actuality that they polled extra democrats than republicans. in case you inspect the demographics by journey relative to guidance, age, earnings, family individuals or no and so on... you will see that the very youthful, the undesirable human beings not marrie and the least knowledgeable voted democrat maximum often.

Answer 7

Come over here and judge for yourself rather than judging people as a group based upon a random sampling of Q&A's. The empirical results will prove you wrong.
I am a lawyer (Juris Doctor) and a Republican.

Answer 8

You can look up studies that suggest that the IQ levels of Democrats are considerably higher.

Also, a study of the IQ's of recent presidents clearly shows the same trend.

I personally like to believe that we are more intelligent.

I am a Senior in High School. I am a registered Democrat. I am a skeptic. I plan to major in Biology at one of the best schools in the country (which I have been accepted to). I eventually plan to go there for Medical school and become a Doctor of Internal Medicine.

Answer 9

Well you are aware that a mjaority of extremely intelligent people lack common sense. So in that case, yes, Democrats are more intelligent than Republicans. Politically that is.

Answer 10

I own my own business. I left high school at age 15 and started college. I am a conservative republican. I am 28 now.

I chose to leave college because I needed to get a job to pay for my mother's liver transplant, which never happened. She died.

Not satisfied with working for someone else, I started my own business. I consider myself capable of grasping issues, which is why I am a conservative. To me, liberals allow emotions rather than reason to govern their minds.

Cheerio.