Why do conservatives/Republicans donate more to charity than liberals/Democrats?
by 
Ryan Smith
ANSWERS: 21
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Because they're inherently good people.
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Because they see charity as a better more humane system then the government. Liberals see the government as their religion.
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They steal more.
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Because they're richer? Also charity is a very Christian thing to do & I’d imagine that the percentage of republican's that are Christian is higher than that of democrats.
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They have more money, duh! You cannot measure a person's altruism by the dollar amount. If someone gives up all they have it's a much bigger sacrifice from a spiritual perspective than giving up 50% of 20 billion is.
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You know, for someone who claims to be so smart, that's a very broad generalization.
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It's a dirty job but somebody's gotta buy those politicians
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because we feel that individuals should solve community issues.
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Goes to show you who really owns the Republican Party. So much for separation of church and state, eh?
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First, because contributions to churches count under the heading of charitable contributions, and conservatives and Republicans, in general, are more likely to both go to church and be actively involved in their church. Also, Democrats are more concentrated in large cities where there is a great deal of anonymity -- i.e., people tend to congregate together around the job they do rather than the neighborhood in which they live. And, unlike in small towns and smaller cities, they are much less likely to know the people who are the beneficiaries of the charities, and that has an impact on their willingness to donate. Finally, although I am a Democrat, I think the other answers here have a great deal of merit -- Democrats often look at a request for a contribution and think, "Don't I pay taxes to take care of that?" Republicans (again a generalization) are more likely to prefer voluntary charitable efforts as the way to go. I think the overall effect is a combination of those three things.
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I can only speculate without knowing more details: Conservatives are more likely to be Christian, and Christians routinely donate large amounts of their income to their churches. I'm not sure that really counts as "charity", but if you subtract that from the mix, what is the result? It could be that this one factor accounts for the entire difference. To me, if you want to study levels of altruism, it's much more important to measure the amount of time someone spends in volunteer work for those who are suffering, rather than comparing dollar values. I suspect a lot of people try to "buy redemption" by giving money only. When someone actually senses the suffering around them and is called to act, that's a more authentic demonstration of caring.
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It's a an olio of bad karma. They are buying their stairway to heaven. It isn't charity. It's guilt, status-seeking, diversion of income taxes to personal interests, and greed. Any benefit to society is purely by accident. True altruism is anonymous and it is impossible to get a tax deferment anonymously.
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Guilt?
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Because democrats are mostly poor and lower middle class and they are use to saying give me for free and taking without even appreciation. democrats are all give me, give me, give me, for free. Look at how many in these classes are now shouting where is the money obama promised. Not where is a job, but where is free money. They get it and the first thing the do is buy clothes to go to the club and the hell with the kids and bills. democrats for you.
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It been documented that liberals tend to have more wealth than conservatives, & to give a lesser amount of income to charity, but I have never seen a reasonable analysis of the why. My guess would be a difference in philosophy. Liberals tend to expect government to meet everyone's needs, so they give less. Conservatives tend to believe in individual responsibility, & give more.
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Different mentality. Conservatives tend to be more religious and many religions require financial contributions. Eliminate that portion of the equation and things seem a bit more even. Also, none of the sources listed takes into consideration non financial donations. It's far easier to write a check than it is to volunteer...
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They may have more expendable money to give, perhaps. But one only need to look as far as someone like George Soros to see that great democrats can be philanthropic powerhouses too.
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Conservatives are more likely to be Christian than Liberals (who have money). Christians regularly donate a fix part of their income to their church. Key note, you can write of these donations on your taxes. Which, in my opinion, is the main reason for any significant gap. Conservatives don't usually like big government unlike most liberals, so they would prefer to give their money to an interest group rather than the government. This may also be a reason liberals don't mind giving money to the government. Nevertheless, props to anyone who donates to any charity.
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It's called overcompensation.
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Wow, some responses here give a new meaning of the expression "bad faith"...btw I am not a conservative... I am a right-wing European liberal, with some sympathy to left liberalism. The key is in the role of the government as perceived by respondents I think. Church can be an important factor also, in the sense that people have an immediate, visible and easy reachable institution to give to. And if people don't like conservatives giving to the church, they are of course free to create, maintain and work in secular non-government organizations, other than the state. But that is sooo hard...all that work. PS My group friends and co-workers is usually divided between right-wing liberals, left-liberals and socialists. People from the last group, in my experience only (!) are more likely to say stuff like " the state should take care of that" when discussing volunteering or giving to charity...
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Liberals give through social programs paid for by taxes. Conservatives give to churches, non-profits and charities. However, the percentages are very small. Conservatives give something like 3.2% of their incomes while Liberals give something like 2.5%. I think we could all give much more of our time and money in many ways.
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