Twice as many Americans interviewed so far this year in national Gallup surveys say they are conservative, rather than liberal. Even with the recent election of a liberal president who won 60 percent of the moderate vote -- and a fifth of the conservative vote -- the number of self-described conservatives has increased this year.

Gallup reports that 40 percent of interviewees this year said they were conservative, 35 percent moderate and 21 percent liberal. The number of conservatives hasn't shifted much in the last two decades -- from 1996 through 2004, between 39 and 40 percent described themselves as conservative -- though that number had dropped to 37 percent over the last three years.

While two-fifths of the population says it's conservative, more Americans consider themselves either Democrats or independents than Republicans. Interviews this year found that 37 percent are independents, 36 percent Democrats and 28 percent Republicans.