2-Party System? Americans Might Be Ready For 8

Updated at 11:53 a.m. ET.

There is a political crackup happening in America.

There remain two major political parties in this country, but there are stark fissures within each. There seem to be roughly at least four stripes of politics today — the pragmatic left (think: Obama-Clinton, the left-of-center establishment Democrats), the pragmatic right (the Bush-McCain-Bob Corker Republican), the populist right (Trump's America) and the populist left (Bernie Sanders liberals).

But a new political typology out Tuesday from the Pew Research Center, based on surveys of more than 5,000 adults conducted over the summer, goes even deeper. It finds eight distinct categories of political ideology (nine if you include "bystanders," those not engaged with politics).

They are as follows, from most conservative to most liberal (in part based on how many of them crossover between the two major parties. It also mostly tracks with their approval or Trump):

1. Core Conservatives — 13 percent of the general public

2. Country First Conservatives — 6 percent

3. Market Skeptic Republicans — 12 percent

4. New Era Enterprisers — 11 percent

5. Devout and Diverse — 9 percent

6. Disaffected Democrats — 14 percent

7. Opportunity Democrats — 12 percent

8. Solid Liberals — 16 percent

(You can take their quiz and see what you are here.)

While the Solid Liberals and Core Conservatives make up less than a third of the total population, they make up almost half of the most politically engaged. Because of that, they have an outsize influence in U.S. politics.

They are also, predictably, the most interested in the 2018 election. There's a stark drop off in interest in the midterms among any other group, and that points to yet again a midterm election where the most activist dominate and there's a drop in turnout from a presidential year.

Meanwhile, Pew also identified a sizable portion of the American population that are essentially political "bystanders." They're not engaged with politics, not registered to vote, young and majority-minority. And there's a lot of them — 8 percent of the population, or roughly 20 million people.

Overall, Pew sums up its findings, in a new 150-page report, this way:

"Nearly a year after Donald Trump was elected president, the Republican coalition is deeply divided on such major issues as immigration, America's role in the world and the fundamental fairness of the U.S. economic system.

"The Democratic coalition is largely united in staunch opposition to President Trump. Yet, while Trump's election has triggered a wave of political activism within the party's sizable liberal bloc, the liberals' sky-high political energy is not nearly as evident among other segments in the Democratic base. And Democrats also are internally divided over U.S. global involvement, as well as some religious and social issues."

Here's how the eight groups break down:

Republican leaners — four groups

1. Core Conservatives

13 percent of the country, 31 percent of Republicans, 43 percent of politically engaged Republicans

They are, as Pew describes:

And yet this group approves strongly of Trump. Fully 93 percent approve of the president's job performance, the highest of any group. It's even more than the Country First category, and you'll see why that might be surprising in the next section.

This could simply be the product of Core Conservatives being more politically engaged generally — and more likely to wear the "GOP" T-shirt.

2. Country First

6 percent of the country, 14 percent of Republicans, 14 percent of politically engaged Republicans

They are:

3. Market Skeptic Republicans

12 percent of the country, 22 percent of Republicans, but only 17 percent of the most politically engaged

They are:

4. New Era Enterprisers

11 percent of the country, 17 percent of Republicans, 16 percent of the most engaged Republicans

They are:

Democratic leaners — four groups

5. Devout and Diverse

9 percent of the country, 11 percent of Democrats, just 6 percent of the most politically engaged

They are:

6. Disaffected Democrats

14 percent of the country, 23 percent of Democrats, 11 percent of the most politically engaged

The label doesn't have to do with their disaffection with the Democratic Party. They actually regard the Democratic Party very favorably. But rather they're disaffected with government (most of them say government is "wasteful and inefficient"); politics generally (most believe voting does not give them a say in how government runs); and the direction of the country.

They're also:

7. Opportunity Democrats

12 percent of the country, 20 percent of Democrats, 13 percent of the most politically engaged

They are:

8. Solid Liberals

16 percent of the country, 33 percent of Democrats, 25 percent of the most politically engaged

They are:

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