LogFAQs > #967158288

America is definitely more conservative than just about every other liberal democracy on the planet, only Japan likely surpasses it there. Critically you can see this not just from the politicians that get elected but from polling on issues also. Americans are less likely to support interventionist, collectivist, and redistributive policies than people from other countries, and regularly poll behind other democracies on social issues. The cause is obvious: individualistic culture plus unusual levels of religion plus fearmongering around so-called communism ie anything but the unrestrained free market run absolutely wild.

However, America is still much to the left of its politicians. A solid 30-40% support social democratic ideals yet there are maybe 10 national politicians who share these ideals. There is obviously space for the centre-left in America but the system doesnt allow it. If Americas parties actually represented its voting blocs youd have a nationalist far-right party, a Christian interests party, a centre-right liberal party, a centre-left social democratic party and MAYBE a green party. There are quite a diverse set of political beliefs in America that are let down by its system that only gives you centre-right and far-right options.