Fact check: What are the core principles of liberal ideology in the US?

1. Summary of the results

Based on the analyses provided, liberal ideology in the United States is built on several foundational principles that have evolved significantly over time. The core ideals of liberalism include consent of the governed, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion, which are widely accepted as fundamental liberal principles ^[1].

The data reveals that Americans' political identification shows 25% identifying as liberal, 34-37% as moderate, and 36-37% as conservative as of 2024-2025 ^{[2] [3]}. However, there has been a notable shift in liberal attitudes, particularly on social issues, where Americans have become more liberal over the past quarter century, with liberal, moderate, and conservative perspectives now being roughly equal ^[4].

Democrats have driven much of this liberal trend, with their liberal identification on social issues increasing by 30 points since 2004 ^[4]. The analyses show that Americans' attitudes and behaviors have become more liberal overall in the past 50 years, with significant changes in views on gender, sexuality, race, and personal liberty ^[5].

2. Missing context/alternative viewpoints

The original question lacks several important contextual elements that emerge from the analyses:

• Historical evolution: The question doesn't address how liberal ideology has transformed over decades. The data shows that while overall ideological identification remains relatively stable, there has been significant liberalization on specific social issues over the past 50 years ^[5].
• Party polarization: A critical missing element is that Republicans and Democrats have become more polarized, with record highs in conservative and liberal identification within each party ^[2]. This suggests that liberal principles are increasingly concentrated within the Democratic Party rather than being broadly American principles.
• Strategic considerations: One analysis suggests that liberals need to adopt a 'high-dominance' political style and recover their tradition of high-dominance leadership, as exemplified by figures like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nancy Pelosi ^[6]. This viewpoint argues that liberals should stop being squeamish about patriotism and start telling a compelling story about America's potential greatness.
• Diversity within liberalism: The analyses reveal that there are divisions within partisan coalitions and diversity of views among Democrats, indicating that liberal ideology isn't monolithic ^[7].

3. Potential misinformation/bias in the original statement

The original question itself doesn't contain explicit misinformation, but it presents potential bias through oversimplification:

• Static framing: The question implies that liberal ideology has fixed "core principles," when the analyses show that liberal views have evolved significantly, particularly on social issues ^{[4] [5]}. This evolution suggests that liberal principles are dynamic rather than static.
• Lack of comparative context: The question doesn't acknowledge that liberal ideology exists in relation to conservative and moderate viewpoints, and that the meaning of "liberal" has shifted as political parties have become more ideologically polarized ^[2].
• Missing contemporary challenges: The question fails to address current debates within liberalism about political strategy and messaging, such as the argument that liberals need to adopt more assertive leadership styles to effectively compete politically ^[6].

The framing could benefit those who prefer to discuss liberalism as a fixed set of principles rather than acknowledging its evolution and internal debates, potentially serving political actors who want to either attack or defend liberalism based on outdated characterizations.