Has the attitude of US citizens towards redistribution changed over time?

Demand for redistribution has been traditionally investigated within a static scenario, giving the perception of a stationary association between individual determinants and preferences. Using repeated cross-sectional survey data from the General Social Survey over the period 1978–2010, we model individual preferences in the U.S. within a chronological perspective. We fit a a logistic non-nested multilevel model with three different levels of variation: individuals, time and cohort. Despite an overall stable trend in demand for redistribution, we find that driving factors in shaping redistributive preferences have changed rapidly. Personal income is always a strong predictor, with the poor-rich gap increasing over time. Large changes have characterized the effects of education, ethnic bonds and self-declared party identification. Over time, highly educated people have increased their probability to be in favor of redistribution while the less educated have become less prone. Ethnicity mattered more in the 1970s than in the 2000s. In the 2000s it is party affiliation that shapes preferences rather than ethnic bonds: white and black democrats have similar feelings toward redistribution and so do white and black republicans.