Voter Typology Cluster Analysis

Despite changes in the U.S. political landscape, many scholars still rely on the traditional left-right binary to understand voters. Such a reductive typology obfuscates voter differences, particularly regarding subgroups within political parties, as evident by 2016 U.S. Presidential election. This data comes from a survey distributed right before November 8, 2016 and includes which includes items about 17 enduring political values and worldviews. Studies using this dataset apply clustering techniques to typologize voters, both holistically and as part of specific groups (e.g., Independents). Results from this data emphasis the need to re-consider how best to communicate with different clusters of the American electorate.