A growing share of Americans say there are important differences between the Republican and Democratic parties, according to a new CNN/SSRS poll.
The May survey, released on Sunday, shows 81 percent of respondents say there are important differences between the two parties, while only 18 percent say the parties are “pretty much the same.”
The 63-point gap in responses marks a noted increase from the 44-point gap in late 2023, when 72 percent of respondents said there were important differences between the parties, and 28 percent said the parties were pretty much the same.
More Americans had been describing the parties as meaningfully different over the preceding decade, but the trend was not as stark as it was over the last year and a half.
In a September 2014 survey, there was a 29-point gap in responses, with 64 percent of respondents saying there were important differences between the parties and 35 percent saying the parties were pretty much the same.
Twelve years before that, however, the results were virtually the same, with 65 percent saying the parties had important differences, and 32 percent saying they were pretty much the same.
The latest results show the trend exists across demographic groups, even as some groups are slightly less likely to ascribe meaningful differences to the political parties.
Among independents, for example, 70 percent say there are important difference between the parties — compared to 92 percent of Democrats and 89 percent of Republicans who say the same.
Among respondents who make less than $50,000 a year, 73 percent say the parties have important differences — compared to 89 percent of those who make $50,000-$100,000 and 87 percent who make more than $100,000.
White people are more likely than people of color — 86 percent compared to 74 percent, respectively — to say the parties have important difference.
And college graduates, at 90 percent, are more likely than non-college graduates, at 77 percent, to say the parties have important differences.
The survey included 2,539 adults and was conducted May 5-26. The margin of error is 2.7 percentage points.