New Study on Conservative Values in the United States Identifies Areas of Overlap with Animal Welfare Priorities

New research from Faunalytics shows how conservative political values in the United States can align with initiatives to help animals at both the state and national levels. The report identifies which animal causes are most likely to gain support from conservative lawmakers, and offers guidance on how to frame messaging to better influence cultural change and encourage pro-animal actions among conservatives.

https://faunalytics.org/bridging-u-s-conservative-values-and-animal-protection/

Key Findings:

1. Animal protection goals align with several values and issues that are important to U.S. conservatives. Our analysis of 71 conservative values and issues found 22 that align well enough to serve as potential inroads for advocates to present animal issues as nonpartisan or bipartisan. These values provide key insights into the best narrative frameworks when advocating for animals to conserve audiences and stakeholders. 
2. The values that most correspond to pro-animal actions are: Health (which can be used to promote plant-forward diets, advocate against the harms of factory farming and potential zoonotic outbreak from animal agriculture), Honesty (which can be referenced in the fight against ag-gag laws and misleading “humane” labels, or can even prompt consumers to avoid meat companies that have lied about welfare), Reason (which can be called upon with respect to how unreasonable many aspects of factory farming and animal use in experimentation actually are), Economic Fairness (which can help level the playing field between animal and non-animal meat products in the marketplace), Freedom of Speech (which is relevant to advocacy for ag-gag bans, fairer labeling, and the right to protest), and Family and Community (which can come into play when advocating against industrial animal agriculture).
3. Republican legislators may be most swayed by finding common ground on economic issues, as these values were most apparent in their past actions. Conservative legislators’ voting records and bill introductions demonstrated the strongest adherence to this value, suggesting that they may be more responsive to animal protection work that aligns with them. For instance, taxpayer money being unnecessarily spent on animal research when ethical alternatives exist goes against the value of responsible government spending. 
4. Some conservative values like Economic Freedom and constitutional rights may take precedence over other conservative values, which could hinder animal protection efforts. Constitutional and Economic values are foundational for U.S. conservatives and may be closely related to the success or failure of animal protection goals. For instance, Economic Freedom has come up on multiple occasions when blocking the passage of pro-animal legislation, despite Animal Welfare also being a conservative value, so animal advocates should be prepared for conservative arguments based on these constitutional values. Another example is the value that conservatives place in their Families and Communities, which provides common ground with animal advocates who want to increase regulations on slaughterhouses that negatively impact the health of local communities. However, if the affected communities are primarily immigrant families, conservatives’ concern for national security and immigration in particular may take precedence, possibly resulting in the rejection of the bill.
5. Republican legislators have demonstrated that they value animal welfare and may support animal welfare legislation. Animal advocates may find the greatest success in gaining support from Republican lawmakers for legislation protecting companion animals. While we did not find evidence of as much success with animal welfare bills meant to protect wild animals and farmed animals, bills relating to wild and farmed animals still had much Republican support behind them, with many Republican legislators co-sponsoring these bills and casting votes in favor of them. 

Background:

The United States Congress is currently divided—the Republican Party holds control of the House of Representatives and the Democratic Party controls the Senate. Future elections may change this dynamic, but the chances of the House, the Senate, and the Presidency all belonging to the same political party likely remain low. This bipartisan division, along with differing views and beliefs between the controlling parties, has made it difficult to pass legislation, including pro-animal legislation. At the moment, the U.S. Congress is the most polarized it has been in 50 years, as Democrats have generally become slightly more liberal and Republicans significantly more conservative in recent decades.

While animal advocacy can be apolitical, in recent years U.S. conservatives have generally been less supportive of animal protection measures. We can see this at the legislative level (such as the Republican Party’s introduction of the EATS (Ending Agricultural Trade Suppression) Act, which greatly threatens animal welfare laws), at the cultural level (like how alternative proteins are vilified in conservative messaging campaigns), and at the individual level (seen in how conservative voters are less likely than moderates and liberals to take all 18 pro-animal actions, like changing their diet or supporting Meatless Mondays, that were tested in a 2023 Faunalytics study). 

However, there is room for positive change. Reframing issues that conservatives would not normally support (e.g., environmental issues) in terms of moral values that resonate with them can reduce the gap between liberals and conservatives (Feinberg & Willer, 2012). And, while changing national laws might seem like an immense challenge, previous Faunalytics research shows that affecting local and state laws can serve as stepping stones to larger change (Faunalytics, 2022). As a result, finding common ground with the values of U.S. conservatives—both constituents and legislators—is critical to passing legislation that will benefit animals.

In this study we implemented qualitative methods to determine how animal advocates in the U.S. can leverage conservative political values to bring about legislative change for animals at the state and federal levels. Using a combination of academic literature review and desk research, we identified values demonstrated by the Republican Party of the United States, conservative U.S. media, and the Republican public, and then determined how these align with animal protection goals and actions. 

It’s important to note that stated values are not always demonstrated in practice. In this research, we looked at values stated by the conservative public and media or in the Republican Party, as well as values demonstrated by Republican legislators, and found many instances of misalignment. For example, the official Republican Party platform prohibits discrimination, but we found evidence of this anti-discrimination value being demonstrated only with respect to a few groups, while the party is attempting to pass many laws that restrict the rights of many others. 

This disconnect may be due to two reasons: First, that these values may be somewhat rhetorical in nature and legislators or voters may not fully believe them, or second, the values may be understood differently by conservatives and non-conservatives (for example, how Democrats and Republicans have differing views on the extent of discrimination in the U.S.). Therefore, advocates must be mindful of the potential disconnect between values we see proclaimed and those we see practiced.

Given this, the report can be strategically integral in two ways: First, to identify which cause areas to pursue with conservative lawmakers or in conservative regions, and second, to help frame pro-animal messages to maximize their ability to influence culture shifts or individual pro-animal actions among conservatives. By identifying these areas of common ground, animal  advocates can work with conservatives to create a better world for animals. 

Research Team:

The project’s lead author was Constanza Arévalo (Faunalytics). Zach Wulderk (Faunalytics) assisted in the study design and analysis stages. Björn Ólafsson (Faunalytics) contributed substantial writing and interpretive support to the report. Dr. Jo Anderson (Faunalytics) reviewed and oversaw the work.

Conclusion:

Considering the current polarization between the Democratic and Republican parties in the U.S. and the lack of support for animal protection legislation from Republican legislators, getting conservative audiences on board with animal protection issues is critical if animal advocates are to make change for animals in the U.S., because research shows that policy changes have lasting effects in the U.S. (Freitas-Groff, 2024). 

Thus, gaining the support of conservative legislators and constituents for animal issues is key. Additionally, conservative Republicans are much more likely to vote than moderate Republicans, making Republican legislators more likely to want to appeal to conservative values to secure their votes. As our research indicates, animal protection goals and actions share some degree of overlap with 22 U.S. conservative values, giving animal advocates a solid chance at appealing to conservative legislators and constituents to make legislative change happen for animals.

Gaining Conservative Legislator Support Through Conservative Values

According to stakeholders with lobbying experience, the most promising path to achieving bipartisanship on a pro-animal bill and making it into law is by having a Republican legislator sponsor or cosponsor the bill. This will likely require a combination of leveraging conservative values that overlap with the intentions of the bill, obtaining significant press coverage, gaining the support of constituents, and securing donations.

Our results indicated that economic values were the most prevalent values involved in Republican support and rejection of bills during the 117^th Congress. Of these, the most common was economic freedom, which in the case of pro-animal legislation, often played more of a hindering role. Legislation introduced by Democrats was rejected on the basis of economic freedom, while Republicans themselves introduced legislation that would undermine legislative progress already made for animals, in the name of economic freedom (i.e., the EATS Act). Highlighting how pro-animal legislation may either promote economic freedom or promote economic prosperity without standing in the way of economic freedom, may thus be imperative to gain the support of conservative legislators.

Following economic values, national security values were the second most prevalent demonstrated values. Most demonstrated national security values don’t overlap particularly well with animal protection goals (e.g., domestic security, law enforcement). However, if a connection can be made between animal protection legislation and a national security value, animal advocates may have a better chance at making pro-animal legislation a possibility by achieving bipartisan support. Recently we’ve seen how national security can take precedence even over constitutional values, as in the case of the ban on TikTok, where national security took precedence over free speech. Similarly, we could expect conservative views on immigration, foreign policy, or even socialism to take precedence over other, less crucial values (e.g., personal values). The same could be said about economic and constitutional values, which are the most foundational values for conservatives. Being able to leverage these values to gain the support of conservative legislators may yield the best results for animal protection efforts.

Aside from the importance of leveraging economic and national security values with conservative legislators, of the 71 conservative values identified in this study, the most promising for animal advocates may be, not surprisingly, animal welfare. There is already precedent of this being a value that Republican legislators care about, demonstrated in the proposal of legislation to protect companion animals (i.e., the Puppy Protection Act of 2021). If leveraged properly—perhaps in conjunction with economic values that appeal to conservatives—the animal welfare value could help pass legislation to protect not only companion animals, but farmed animals, animals used in research, animals used in entertainment, and wild animals as well.

However, leveraging conservative values can only go so far in securing the support of conservative legislators. Ideally, animal advocates will gain the support of constituents by leaning into values important to them, to show lawmakers that there is voter interest in the bill at hand. Animal advocates should also work with the media to get coverage of the animal protection issue they plan to address with the proposed bill, showing legislators that it is a relevant and pressing issue, and perhaps most importantly, increasing donor support.

Getting Conservative Constituents On Board With Animal Protection Legislation

Previous research by Faunalytics (2023) found that while conservatives are less likely to take pro-animal actions, they generally seem to care about animal welfare (e.g., a large proportion of conservatives would be willing to purchase cruelty free products). Likewise, Republicans are generally against practices like the use of cages and chick culling in animal agriculture. While we did not identify animal welfare as a public value in this report, this research serves as evidence that in addition to being a demonstrated value, animal welfare is also a public value (see Caveats & Limitations for more on this). It is particularly important to note that while Republican legislators demonstrated concern over companion animal welfare, but not farmed animal welfare, the conservative public does value the welfare of farmed animals. As a result, there is opportunity for Republican legislators to better demonstrate the values of their constituents in their legislative action—an opportunity that animal advocates seeking to make legislative change for farmed animals can highlight. We see a similar opportunity for Republican legislators to demonstrate that they support economic fairness, which a large proportion of their constituents value. This can be especially useful with regard to farmed animal legislation given the far greater benefits given by the government to large meat corporations compared to farms of smaller scale.

When working with the conservative public to gain their support for pro-animal legislation, animal advocates may find the most success leveraging personal values. Family and community may be a particularly effective value to implement considering the large proportion of Republicans who attribute these as giving meaning to their lives. Conservatives may be more willing to support animal protection measures that will also ensure the wellbeing of their loved ones and communities. Additionally, conservatives greatly value their spirituality or faith, making this another good value for animal advocates to leverage when possible. This value may be especially useful given the broad applications it can have, as different faiths emphasize the need for humans to respect animals and treat them ethically. Appealing to conservatives’ morality could be an effective strategy to achieve greater support for animal welfare legislation.

Research shows that while values are generally consistent over time, they can change with important national and international events (e.g., war, poverty, climate change; Braithwaite, 2009; Weinschenk, 2010). As a result, framing animal protection issues in reference to important events that speak to conservatives could help gain their support for these issues and legislation meant to tackle them. For example, given current international wars, national security values may be especially effective to leverage in relation to animal protection issues (e.g., highlighting foreign control of the U.S. animal agriculture industry). Similarly, constant fears of a recession can also make economic arguments particularly effective among conservative constituents (e.g., emphasizing the economic prosperity that the alternative protein industry can bring to the nation).

Finally, research has found that Republican voters support political candidates who are animal friendly and care about farmed animals (Saha, 2023). This is something that can be communicated to conservative legislators who require constituent support to stay in office. While money may largely drive politics, conservatives have the ability to put pressure on their representatives to make legislative changes for animals that reflect their values. Animal advocates should therefore engage the conservative public while leveraging the values discussed in this report to increase support for pro-animal legislation, encouraging them to contact their representatives to show their interest in these issues.