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Feb 05, 2010 - A third of Millennials lack health care insurance, and their support for health care reform exceeds that of older generations, but they have tuned out of the debate in Washington.
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Jan 28, 2010 - The Pew Research Center's latest News IQ Quiz finds that the public struggled with political questions; despite expressing strong interest in the health care debate, few know how many votes it takes to break a filibuster or how many GOP votes the bill got in the Senate. Less than half can identify the Senate majority leader...or Stephen Colbert. Before reading the report, see how much you know by taking the quiz.
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Jan 26, 2010 - A look at the connection between the rise and fall of joblessness and the political fortunes of past presidents in the modern era is instructive although the lessons to be drawn are far from crystal clear. Thus far, only Ronald Reagan’s ratings in his first term have borne as close a connection as have Obama’s to changes in the unemployment rate.
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Jan 25, 2010 - A stronger economy and improved job situation remain nation's top priorities, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. But strong shifts have occurred on energy (down) and the budget deficit (up). Huge partisan gaps exist on health care reform and global warming.
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Jan 21, 2010 - The first lady is more popular than either her husband or her two immediate predecessors.
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Jan 14, 2010 - The government's rating for reducing the threat of terrorism has slipped. Americans are now more concerned with safety than civil liberties, while few see an upside to health care reform. However, the president's political standing is little affected, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Dec 16, 2009 - The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds roughly half the country now approves of President Obama's performance. The nation is also divided on Afghanistan and health care. One rare point of agreement: the economy remains poor.
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Dec 01, 2009 - After peaking in mid-2008 during Obama’s presidential election campaign, the number of Americans describing the Democratic Party as friendly toward religion returned to levels similar to those seen in 2005 through 2007, according to a new survey report. The Obama administration, however, is seen as friendly toward religion by more people (37%) than the Democratic Party as a whole (29%).
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Nov 19, 2009 - While most Americans oppose government funding of abortion, few cite funding as a reason for opposing health care reform legislation. If anything, opposition to reform has declined since abortion was debated, with currently 42% in favor and 39% opposed to the reform proposals in Congress.
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Nov 11, 2009 - The mood of America is glum. Most are dissatisfied with the state of the nation, economic conditions, personal finances and an increasing number say the war in Afghanistan is not going well, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Still, a majority continues to approve of Obama's job as president.
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Oct 30, 2009 - Republican viewers have migrated increasingly to Fox News but Democrats comprise a larger share of the Fox News audience than Republicans do of CNN's audience.
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Oct 27, 2009 - Why do fewer Americans believe the earth is warming? A range of possibilities, including a sour economy and, perhaps, a cooler than normal summer in parts of the U.S., may provide an explanation.
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Oct 22, 2009 - Substantially more Republicans and independents now doubt that global temperatures are rising. Still, by 50% to 39%, the public supports capping carbon emissions even if energy prices rise.
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Oct 14, 2009 - There is a lot to keep up with in the news right now. The Pew Research Center's latest News IQ Quiz finds that many Americans know key facts about health care and the economy, but questions about Afghanistan and environmental legislation in Congress stump the public. Before reading the report, see how much you know by taking the quiz.
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Oct 09, 2009 - A new report finds that a clear majority of Americans favor allowing civil unions for gay and lesbian couples. Over the past year, support for civil unions has grown significantly among those who oppose same-sex marriage while remaining stable among those who favor same-sex marriage. At the same time, opponents of same-sex marriage continue to outnumber supporters overall.
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Oct 08, 2009 - Many religious organizations have taken on the look of political campaigns, as advocates for and against health care reform preach their politics.
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Oct 08, 2009 - Public opinion is conflicted regarding the two major domestic issues of the day – the economy and health care reform. On the economy, most Americans remain optimistic that Barack Obama’s policies will help, but the public expresses mixed views of the steps he has taken so far and sees no clear signs of recovery at this point.
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Sep 21, 2009 - Opinion of the United Nations has grown more positive since 2007 in 12 of the 25 nations surveyed by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project—and nowhere more than in the United States.
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Sep 17, 2009 - Obama’s job approval ratings, which had declined in the summer, have remained essentially unchanged over the past month. And the balance of opinion regarding the health care reform proposals before Congress has become a bit more positive than it was in late August, though the public is about evenly divided over those proposals.
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Sep 02, 2009 - Americans’ opinion of Congress is at a 24-year low, and as a result the party in power has lost its electoral edge. Voters split between the Democrats and GOP in a 2010 matchup, but Democrats are still favored on most issues.
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Aug 19, 2009 - More say the president and GOP leaders are not working together, as Obama's approval inches lower and the Democratic Party's favorability falls sharply. Opinion about the economy remains negative with personal financial assessments becoming more bearish, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Aug 11, 2009 - The falloff in favorable views has been greater in states with the largest deficits, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Also, views of the federal government have shifted dramatically over partisan lines under the new administration.
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Jul 30, 2009 - Support for Obama's job performance and his handling of health care, the economy and deficit has fallen, but most remain confident his policies will be positive in the long term, according to a new poll by Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. The public supports many of his health care goals but opposes many proposals being debated in Congress.
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Jun 25, 2009 - Despite such challenges as a growing wireless-only population, possible racially-related response bias and greater-than-usual difficulties in forecasting turnout, polllsters' methods were evidently adequate to the task.
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Jun 24, 2009 - While Sarah Palin is a GOP favorite, it is Mitt Romney who now enjoys a positive balance of opinion among the general public, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Jun 24, 2009 - How the question is phrased has a clear impact on whether the public rates deficit reduction or stimulus spending more important.
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Jun 18, 2009 - A solid majority continues to approve of the president's performance, but they express mixed views of several of his policies. Only about one-in-five Americans (21%) say the U.S. is less safe from terrorism under the Obama administration than under the Bush administration.
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Jun 17, 2009 - Even while their personal worries have deepened, Americans have been feeling more upbeat about the national economy's prospects and less concerned about rising inequality. What underlies this trend and can it be sustained?
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Jun 05, 2009 - Younger Americans are more liberal in views of government and traditional values than older generations. A new Pew Research Center analysis also finds evidence of increased political engagement in the aftermath of the election.
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May 21, 2009 - Centrism has emerged as a dominant factor in public opinion as the Obama administration begins. Republicans and Democrats are even more divided than in the past, while an increasing number of Americans identify as independents. The Pew Research Center's long-term values study tracks beliefs and attitudes—on government, business, race, religion and more—shaping public opinion and influencing voting behavior.
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Apr 30, 2009 - A poll finds that most Catholics who have heard about the issue support the University of Notre Dame's decision to invite Barack Obama to speak and receive an honorary degree at their May 17 commencement. But the poll also finds a deep division on this issue between the most-observant Catholics and those who are less observant, as defined by frequency of worship attendance.
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Apr 30, 2009 - Public attitudes on gun control and abortion have moved in a more conservative direction over the past year, largely the result of changing attitudes among men.
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Apr 30, 2009 - Demographic changes have increased the number of eligible non-white voters, but the racial and ethnic diversity of last year's electorate was also driven by substantially higher levels of participation by black, Hispanic and Asian voters, according to a new analysis of Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center.
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Apr 28, 2009 - How have the news media covered the early days of the Barack Obama presidency? And how does that coverage stack up against that of his predecessors? This study by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism examines both the tone and focus of Obama’s media narrative and compares it to Bill Clinton’s and George Bush’s in their first two months in office.
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Apr 28, 2009 - Support for trade agreements is up nine points—from 35% to 44%—putting positive views of trade back in line with long-term trends. Americans in low-income families and Democrats are much more supportive of trade this year.
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Apr 23, 2009 - As he approaches the 100-day mark of his presidency, Barack Obama’s job approval ratings are higher than those of his most recent predecessors. However, the 44th president is even more distinguished by his strong personal popularity.
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Apr 15, 2009 - Three-quarters (74%) of Internet users—55% of all U.S. adults—went online to take part in or get news and information about the 2008 election. The most interested are the most likely to browse sites that match their views.
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Apr 08, 2009 - A majority of Americans (53%) currently says that Republicans and Democrats have been bickering and opposing each more than usual, while just a quarter (25%) say the two sides have been working together more. The biggest partisan gap over budget priorities is with respect to health care.
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Apr 02, 2009 - The Pew Research Center's new test of current-events knowledge finds more know the unemployment rate than the Dow Jones average. How much do you know?
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Apr 01, 2009 - As was the case during the campaign, white evangelical Protestants (19%) and Republicans (17%) are among the most likely to view Obama as a Muslim.
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Mar 26, 2009 - Americans' perception about the state and direction of the nation typically go hand-in-hand. But last fall's election opened up an unusually wide split between these two indicators of the public's national outlook.
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Mar 25, 2009 - The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press explores the public's opinion of several proposals that are currently being considered or may emerge in the future.
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Mar 18, 2009 - The Pew Research Center examines an 86-year-old poll that sheds light on why female Americans were slow to appreciate the hard-fought battle for access to the ballot box.
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Mar 16, 2009 - Most people think the new president is doing as much as he can to fix the economy, but the public expresses mixed views of his many major proposals to fix the economy. The public overwhelmingly supports Obama's plan to remove most combat troops from Iraq by the end of August but a much narrower majority supports his planned troop buildup in Afghanistan.
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Feb 18, 2009 - Americans approve of Obama's handling of terrorist threats by more than two-to-one but views about Guantanamo, torture and surveillance remain divided along familiar lines.
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Feb 09, 2009 - After weeks of intense debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan, a narrow majority of Americans who have heard about the $800 billion plan say it is a good idea, while 34% say it is a bad idea.
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Jan 29, 2009 - The current Democratic favorability advantage is the largest measured in nearly two decades. Even among white evangelical Protestants, loyal supporters of the Republican Party, opinions about the two parties are about even.
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Jan 22, 2009 - The celebratory tone that characterized international media coverage of Barack Obama's historic election victory was again pervasive in many of the stories about his inauguration. However, many newspapers noted the more somber tone of Obama's speech, and were themselves relatively somber about the enormous challenges and inflated expectations facing the new president.
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Jan 21, 2009 - More Americans say that people like themselves will gain influence under the Obama administration than was the case for the last two incoming presidents. Many who did not vote for Obama say this as well -- including pluralities of all whites and white evangelical Christians.
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Jan 15, 2009 - According to a report from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, public confidence in Barack Obama to deal with the nation's most pressing problems is high and many Americans not only see the president-elect as a problem-solver, but as a "uniter" as well.
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Jan 07, 2009 - As Barack Obama prepares to take office, majorities say the country is losing ground on any number of key issues, particularly economic ones.
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Jan 05, 2009 - What a difference eight years can make -- or not. As shown in this report from the Pew Research Center, some things have changed a great deal since George W. Bush was elected president in 2000, but other things, most notably certain American beliefs and attitudes, have remained remarkably constant.
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Dec 30, 2008 - A new survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that voters expect that the level of public engagement they experienced with Obama during the campaign, much of it occurring online, will continue into the early period of his new administration.
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Dec 18, 2008 - This report reviews many of the project's key findings on America's image during the Bush presidency, as well as other major global trends, such as tensions between Western and Muslim nations, changes in the global economy, and the rise of China.
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Dec 18, 2008 - As George W. Bush prepares to leave the White House, the United States is in many ways dramatically different from when he took the oath of office in 2001.
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Dec 18, 2008 - The latest study of Pew Research Center election surveys analyzes the effects of conducting both landline and cell phone interviews. While the addition of cell phones had at most a modest effect on estimates of candidate support in individual surveys, when looked at in the aggregate clear patterns emerge.
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Dec 16, 2008 - Findings from Pew Research Center polls over the year told the story of the longest -- and one of the most exciting -- presidential elections in U.S. history as well as recording the public's reactions to other major events ranging from the pope's visit, to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, to the onset of a mega-economic downturn.
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Dec 15, 2008 - While just about everyone knows Obama's new secretary of state, fewer than half were generally aware of where the Dow is trading these days. A new Pew News IQ survey provides an updated look at the public's knowledge of political and world affairs.
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Dec 11, 2008 - Nearly six-in-ten who say they are cutting back or delaying purchases report they are doing so because they worry things might get worse, according to the latest survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. Fewer than one in four say they are cutting back because their own financial situation has worsened. Lower fuel and food costs do not appear to have had a positive impact on the public so far.
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Dec 08, 2008 - The Pew Research Center provides a wrapup of possibly overlooked polling trends and end-of-campaign happenings.
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Nov 25, 2008 - Still, ideological labels don’t always predict policy opinions; e.g.,about half of self-described conservatives say that all or some of the Bush tax cuts should be repealed while many liberals support off-shore drilling.
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Nov 13, 2008 - A week after the election, voters are feeling good about themselves, the presidential campaign and Barack Obama. Looking ahead, they have high expectations for the Obama administration, with two-thirds predicting that he will have a successful first term.
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Nov 13, 2008 - This year, 66% of those under age 30 voted for Barack Obama, making the disparity between young voters and other age groups larger than in any presidential election since exit polling began in 1972.
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Nov 05, 2008 - Among nearly every religious group, Barack Obama received equal or higher levels of support compared with the 2004 Democratic nominee, John Kerry, according to the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. Still, a sizeable gap persists between Obama’s support among white evangelical Protestants and his support among the religiously unaffiliated. Similarly, a sizeable gap exists between those who attend religious services regularly and those who attend less often.
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Nov 05, 2008 - Barack Obama captured the White House on the strength of a substantial electoral shift toward the Democratic Party and by winning a number of key groups in the middle of the electorate. In particular, the overwhelming backing of younger voters was a critical factor in Obama's victory, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of National Election Pool exit poll data.
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Nov 05, 2008 - This Pew Hispanic Center report contains an analysis of exit poll results for the Latino vote in nine states and for the United States.
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Nov 02, 2008 - The Pew Research Center’s final pre-election poll of likely voters finds Barack Obama holding a significant lead over John McCain in the final days of Campaign 2008.
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Oct 31, 2008 - The proportion of voters identifying with the Democratic Party has grown significantly since the 2004 election, and the shift has been particularly dramatic among younger voters.
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Oct 31, 2008 - Television remains the dominant source, but the percent of people who say they get most of their campaign news from the internet has tripled since 2004.
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Oct 29, 2008 - Unlike in the rest of the country, the Latino vote in the Sunshine State has tended to be heavily Republican; but changing politics and demographics have produced a substantial shift in electoral rolls.
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Oct 28, 2008 - Barack Obama leads John McCain by a 52% to 36% margin in the Pew Research Center’s latest nationwide survey of 1,325 registered voters. Obama holds a 53% to 34% lead among the sizable minority of voters (15%) who say they have already voted.
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Oct 23, 2008 - Despite the imploding stock market, the looming recession, the unpopular president and discouraging political polls, a new Social Trends survey finds GOP adherents still beat Democrats on the happiness scale.
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Oct 23, 2008 - With less than two weeks to go before Election Day, voters remain riveted to the presidential campaign. But liberal Democrats are leading the way by engaging in far more activism than other partisan and ideological groups, according to the Pew Research Center. The survey also finds new indications of the Internet’s expanding reach in political communication.
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Oct 21, 2008 - Currently, Obama enjoys his widest margin yet over McCain among registered voters, at 52% to 38%, according to the latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Oct 06, 2008 - While last week’s vice-presidential debate had a larger audience than any other in history, voters’ impressions of Sarah Palin have changed little, according to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
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Oct 01, 2008 - The Pew Research Center reports that Barack Obama has achieved a significant lead over John McCain in the days following the first presidential debate.
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Sep 23, 2008 - As in two preceding tests, a new survey shows that including cell phone interviews results in slightly more support for Obama and slightly less for McCain.
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Sep 18, 2008 - The race remains close as enthusiasm for McCain increases among GOP base. Somewhat more swing voters (46%) say their greater concern is that McCain will govern too much like President Bush, rather than that Obama lacks experience (37%), according to the Pew Research Center.
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Sep 15, 2008 - With roughly seven weeks left until Election Day, which candidate has the edge online, and how so? A new study by the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism finds both campaigns' official sites are now quite advanced.
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Sep 15, 2008 - A Pew survey, like others before it, found Republicans far more troubled than Democrats by the long term trend toward mothers of young children working outside the home. But these surveys were conducted before Sarah Palin entered the political scene. The especially enthusiatic initial reponse to her vice presidential candidacy contrasts sharply with these findings.
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Aug 25, 2008 - Americans believe women have the right stuff to be political leaders. When it comes to honesty, intelligence and other traits they value highly in leaders, the public rates women superior to men. But only 6% say women make better political leaders than men. A Pew Research Center survey explores this paradox.
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Aug 21, 2008 - A new Pew Research Center survey finds a decline in the share of Americans who want churches and other houses of worship to be involved in political matters. Most of the drop in the past four years has come among political conservatives.
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Aug 13, 2008 - With fewer than two weeks to go before the start of the presidential nominating conventions, McCain has solidified his support among Republicans and white evangelicals, especially in the South, while Obama lags in attracting Clinton supporters.
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Jul 24, 2008 - This Pew Hispanic Center survey finds the presumptive Democratic nominee now has a strong lead among Hispanics, a sharp reversal from the primaries when Obama lost the Latino vote to Hillary Clinton by a nearly two-to-one ratio.
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Jul 17, 2008 - This Pew Research Center national survey, including a sample of 503 adults on a cell phone, finds that the overall estimate of voter presidential preference is modestly affected by whether or not the cell phone respondents are included.
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Jul 17, 2008 - John McCain has a smaller lead among white evangelical Protestants than George W. Bush had at a similar point in the 2004 campaign, even though Barack Obama has made few inroads into this key constituency. Religiously unaffiliated voters, however, strongly favor the Democratic candidate.
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Jun 12, 2008 - The Pew Research Center finds that overall opposition to same-sex marriages has declined somewhat, but the issue has regained importance among some conservative groups.
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May 29, 2008 - While Obama has opened up a wide lead in the Democratic primary, he now runs about even against McCain. The tightening general election shows some sullying of Obama's personal image over the past three months, which is in some measure a negative reaction from frustrated Clinton supporters.
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May 14, 2008 - Since endorsing Obama, the talk show host's popularity has fallen among Republicans while the former vice president now rivals Obama and tops Clinton in favorability.
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May 08, 2008 - While the outcome of the North Carolina primary fit into a racial pattern observed in earlier primaries this year, Clinton’s showing in Indiana was less strong than would have been expected.
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May 01, 2008 - The Pew Research Center finds Barack Obama's slipping support for the Democratic nomination reflects a modest decline in his personal image rather than improved impressions of Hillary Clinton. Both retain advantage over McCain as economy tops the public's concerns.
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Mar 27, 2008 - Fully 85% of Americans say they heard about Obama's speech, and 70% have heard more about him in the last week than any other candidate. The impact of events on Obama's image appears to be mixed.
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Mar 20, 2008 - The balance of party identification in the U.S. electorate now favors the Democratic Party by a decidedly larger margin than in either of the two previous presidential election cycles including in some key swing states.
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Feb 21, 2008 - As the Democratic nomination contest heads for a showdown in Texas on March 4, the Pew Hispanic Center reports that Latinos may be a pivotal constituency in a state where they make up a quarter of the electorate.
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Feb 11, 2008 - Beyond the vote, the exit polls point to interesting differences -- and similarities -- between younger and older Democratic voters.
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Feb 07, 2008 - Race still plays a role in U.S. politics but it showed up in surprising ways in tallies from Democratic primary elections so far this year.
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Jan 31, 2008 - Study finds that on key political measures such as presidential approval, Iraq policy, presidential primary voter preference and party affiliation, respondents reached on cell phones hold attitudes very similar to those reached on landline telephones.
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Jan 28, 2008 - This time, the pre-election polls understated Barack Obama's support among both white and black voters.
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Jan 17, 2008 - Race, ethnicity and politics can sometimes make for a volatile mix, but a poll finds that race relations in this country are on a pretty even keel.
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Jan 16, 2008 - The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that the presidential primaries are being shaped by such factors as ideology, religion, class, race and gender.
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Jan 11, 2008 - The internet is living up to its potential as a major source for news about the presidential campaign. Nearly a quarter of Americans say they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet, almost the double the percentage from a comparable point in the 2004 campaign.
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Jan 04, 2008 - Americans begin 2008 with a highly negative view of national conditions and President Bush, and with tempered expectations for the coming year. More Democrats look forward to elections, but Republicans are more optimistic about the year ahead.
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Dec 19, 2007 - The Pew Research Center released a compilation of the top 15 stories in which public opinion played a significant role, and the year's most notable "non-barking dogs."
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Dec 19, 2007 - The Democratic race in Iowa is likely to hinge on how well the campaigns can motivate their potential backers to turn out for the complicated and time-consuming caucuses. On the Republican side, the situation is more fundamental, hinging as it does on a potential divide between social and economic conservatives within the party.
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Nov 08, 2007 - The 2007 elections prove once again that all politics is local as voters in three states soundly rejected governors' pet projects and others put big-ticket spending items such as roads and cancer research on the state's credit card. The results yielded clues to the mood of voters as the country gears up for the kickoff of the 2008 presidential race.
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Jul 16, 2007 - An analysis of the 2008 presidential candidates' standings.
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May 11, 2005 - Results of an in-depth survey of the American political landscape coming out of the 2004 election. Sorts voters into homogeneous groups based on values, political beliefs, and party affiliation.
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Apr 06, 2005 - An in-depth look at activists involved in Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.
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Nov 11, 2004 - Public opinion polling on what motivated voters at the ballot box in 2004.
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Oct 27, 2004 - Follow up interviewing on swing voters leading up to the 2004 presidential election.
Read: Summary
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Oct 01, 2004 - A new subsidiary — the Pew Research Center — is one change following Pew's governing transformation. The components of this organization, however, are well known.
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Sep 23, 2004 - A commentary on public opinion polls and party affiliation.
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Aug 19, 2004 - A survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press finds that foreign affairs and national security issues are looming larger than economic concerns in the 2004 presidential election.
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Jul 08, 2004 - Report finds that while voters are more engaged, the 2004 presidential campaign gets lukewarm ratings.
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View: Full Report (Adobe PDF)
