Conclusions and Relevance Between 1991 and 2012, the political alignment of US physicians shifted from predominantly Republican toward the Democrats. The variables driving this change, including the increasing percentage of female physicians and the decreasing percentage of physicians in solo and small practices, are likely to drive further changes.
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Although few systematic analyses have been conducted on the political behavior of physicians in the United States, it is often assumed that they sit to the right on the political spectrum. Generalizing from the American Medical Association’s strong opposition to the 1965 passage of Medicare, the belief is that physicians share the wariness of Republicans about government interventions, particularly in health care.1,2 Ostensibly, this outlook persists today.3
Given the scarcity of data and alert to the many changes in the composition and organization of the physician workforce, we examined physician contributions to presidential and congressional political campaigns from 1991 to 2012. Information on campaign contributions to federal elections is publicly available. The data illuminate patterns of support of physicians for Democratic and Republican candidates and how these patterns compare to those for all donors.
Between 1991 and 2012, campaign contributions in the United States increased substantially. Inflation-adjusted to 2012 dollars, contributions from all individuals increased from $716 million in 1991 to 1992 to $4.64 billion in 2011 to 2012, a 6.5-fold increase. Contributions from physicians increased at a greater rate, from $20 million to $189 million, or by nearly 9.5 fold.
We grouped contributions by the 2-year congressional election cycles. There are important differences in voter participation between midterm election years and presidential election years; for example, people with low incomes are less likely to vote in midterm elections.4(pp130-133) Contributions also varied between midterm and presidential years, with greater contributions in presidential years.
Over our 22-year study period, the composition of the medical profession changed—most notably, there were more female physicians and fewer solo practitioners5- 7—and politics in the United States became increasingly polarized.4 We hypothesized that the increased number of female physicians and the changes in medical practice altered the patterns of political partisanship within the profession.
JAMA Network | JAMA Internal Medicine | The Political Polarization of Physicians in the United States: An Analysis of Campaign Contributions to Federal Elections, 1991 Through 2012
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