Poll: Only 12% of adults call themselves "progressives"

Large segments of all three ideological groups are unsure what “progressive” means, though liberals are more likely to embrace than reject the label (26% vs. 17%) while conservatives are more likely to reject than embrace it (48% vs. 7%). Democrats are evenly divided on whether the term applies to their views while Republicans overwhelmingly reject it.

Today’s findings are consistent with those from a Gallup Panel poll conducted four years ago in which Americans rated their familiarity with “progressive” and five other political terms. At that time, 22% said they were very familiar with the progressive label and another 37% were somewhat familiar, while 40% were not too or not at all familiar — much higher than the levels not familiar with “conservative” (8%) and “liberal” (10%).