Conservatism Ranks as Nation's Top Ideology in 2009, Poll Shows

More Americans identified themselves as conservatives in 2009 than any other ideological group -- an uptick largely due to more independents shifting right, according to a Gallup report.

Forty percent of Americans said they were conservative, compared with 36 percent who said they were moderates and 21 percent who professed to be liberals.

Political independents viewing themselves as conservative boosted the overall ranks of conservatives, who now clearly outnumber moderates in Gallup's annual averages for the first time since 2004.

The report also said the percentage of Americans calling themselves either conservative or liberal has grown over the last decade, while the percentage of moderates has declined.

What's striking about the report is that since 1992, there have been only two other years -- 2003 and 2004 -- in which the average percentage of conservatives across the nation outnumbered moderates.

Gallup measures political ideology by asking poll respondents to indicate whether their political views are very conservative, conservative, moderate, liberal, or very liberal. The responses show an uptick between 2000 and 2009 in the percentage of Americans calling themselves "very conservative" -- from 6 percent to 9 percent -- and less change in the percentage calling themselves "very liberal" -- from 4 to 5 percent.

Most conservatives still call themselves "conservative" rather than "very conservative"; the same trend is true for liberals.