Legal Commentary

Oops, Bad Choice of Polling Company

By Orin Kerr

I tried using Survey Monkey for my two polls below, given the weird formatting issues I?ve been having with Pollhost, but I didn?t realize that the software puts very strict limits on how the free software is used (it only registers 100 responses per poll, and charges $200 per year if I want to use unlimited responses). That?s pretty useless for my purposes (or very expensive). So I am suspending the polls, and instead just posting the results of the first 100 responses. It?s not that revealing, given the low number of replies, but that?s the Internet for you.

First, conservatives had the following responses to why liberals have liberal views:

They lack the right values. 24%
They lack the right religious beliefs. 8.0%
They?re not as smart as conservatives. 8.0%
Liberals tend to engage in ?groupthink.? 44%
They probably grew up around other liberals. 58%
Political issues are difficult, and liberal views are reasonable (even if I think they are wrong). 61%

Liberals had the following responses to why conservatives have conservative views:

They lack the right values. 19%
They have incorrect religious beliefs. 20%
They?re not as smart as liberals. 15%
Conservatives tend to engage in ?groupthink.? 28%
They probably grew up around other conservatives. 63%
Political issues are difficult, and conservative views are reasonable (even if I think they are wrong).75%

For some reason, the only comments collected by the software were the comments by conservatives about liberals. These are of limited use without knowing the flip side of what liberals thought about conservatives, but here they are after the jump:

1. They like to control the masses. They do not respect property rights. They do not understand liberty or freedom. They can not comprehend the Constitution. They are ideological socialists of varying degrees. Statists of varying degrees. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:13 PM Find...
2. They are governed by emotions rather than facts. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:13 PM Find...
3. Wrong, but unreasonable on most issues. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:12 PM Find...
4. They tend to focus more on good intentions than results. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:12 PM Find...
5. Liberals mistakenly believe themselves superior to others, and therefore believe that their view of the world should prevail. Liberals, in other words, are not liberal, in the root meaning of the word. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:11 PM Find...
6. They stop thinking at values and do not examine potential consequences Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:10 PM Find...
7. They don?t understand basic economics. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:09 PM Find...
8. They adhere to an emotional morality without considering the practical consequences of their policies. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:09 PM Find...
9. Some of the above may be true, but in my experience, people sincerely holding liberal views simply have a different view of how the world should be. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:08 PM Find...
10. they are operating on a specific set of fundamental first premises that are the opposite of much of conservative 1st premises, regarding ethics, human nature, epistemology and the nature of reality
selfishness, intolerance and limited critical thinking. Its all about how they feel. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:07 PM Find...
12. Most emotionally satisfying Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:07 PM Find...
13. Liberals don?t believe in the Law of Unintended Consequences. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:07 PM Find...
14. Liberals are more likely to see their own self-interest as being served by a larger and more powerful central government are going to support policies that promote that interest (and yes the converse is also likely true). Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:06 PM Find...
15. ?Your guilty conscience may force you to vote Democratic, but deep down inside you secretly long for a cold-hearted Republican to lower taxes, brutalize criminals, and rule you like a king!? ? Sideshow Bob. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:06 PM Find...
16. Different preferences Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:03 PM Find...
17. Have not been exposed to well reasoned conservative arguments Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:02 PM Find...
18. Young, stupid, brainwashed by hollywood, media and the academy. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:02 PM Find...
19. They genuinely feel sorry for the less fortunate and won?t accept that government can?t change that Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:01 PM Find...
20. If there were a caveat or qualifier like ?some,? I?d also check the last option.
Lacking the tragic vision of imperfect man and a limited universe that is an essential component of an orthodoxy Judeo-Christian worldview, they have bought into the utopian lie that the human condition can be perfected if only the right people can be given enough power to force the correct ?social reforms? on society. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:01 PM Find...
22. They are young and/or protected from the realities of day-to-day life (e.g., cocooned in academia or by wealth) Thu, Aug 26, 2010 2:00 PM Find...
23. For the most part, I think liberal views stem from value judgments different from those I have?which means they are entirely valid. But I do think some liberal economic policies are based on bad history, bad math, and bad economics and thus can?t be deemed reasonable. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 1:58 PM Find...
24. They live by emotional reasoning Thu, Aug 26, 2010 1:58 PM Find...
25. Most higher education reflects the liberal/progressive views of the Professors. One must be willing challenge that and do one?s own investigation to become a political conservative. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 1:57 PM Find...
26. The tend not to consider the full extent of consequences of the decisions and policies they support. I realize it?s cliche to critique the poll, but this poll doesn?t make any distinction between economic and social liberals. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 1:57 PM Find...
27. Most of their education has been provided by liberals. Thu, Aug 26, 2010 1:56 PM Find...
28. Fundamentally Flawed Worldview.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on August 26, 2010 (boomark / email).