A majority of Americans consider themselves either Republicans or Democrats. Most say they identify this way because they view their own party’s policies as good for the country and the other party’s policies as harmful.

But many Americans don’t consider themselves Republicans or Democrats. Instead, these Americans identify as independents (or with some other party) and many “lean” toward one of the two major parties. For these Americans, opposition to the other party’s policies is more of a motivating factor than support for the policies of the party they lean toward.

We surveyed 9,750 U.S. adults from May 26 to June 1, 2026.  Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel. The survey reflects the views of all U.S. adults.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, along with responses and the survey methodology.