As Americans head to the polls this November, their values and basic beliefs are more polarized along partisan lines than at any point in the past 25 years. Unlike in 1987, when this series of surveys began, the values gap between Republicans and Democrats is now greater than gender, age, race or class divides.

Overall, there has been much more stability than change across the 48 political values measures that the Pew Research Center has tracked since 1987. But the average partisan gap has nearly doubled over this 25-year period — from 10% in 1987 to 18% in the new study.

Nearly all of the increases have occurred during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Looking ahead to the 2012 election, the largest divides between committed supporters of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are over the scope and role of government in the economic realm.

These are among the principal findings of the latest Pew Research Center American Values survey, conducted April 4-15, 2012, among 3,008 adults nationwide. The values project, which began in 1987 and has been updated 14 times since then, tracks a wide range of the public’s fundamental beliefs. These questions do not measure opinions about specific policy or political questions, but rather the underlying values that ultimately shape those opinions.

Read the full report which includes detailed findings on these subjects:

• Understanding the Partisan Divide Over American Values
• Demographics and American Values
• Values about Economic Inequality and Individual Opportunity
• Values about Government and the Social Safety Net
• Values about Business, Wall Street and Labor
• Religious and Social Values
• Values about Foreign Policy and Terrorism
• Values about Immigration and Race
• Trends in Party Affiliation

See also a slideshow summarizing the survey’s key findings and an interactive database containing the full history of the values studies.

Roughly half of Americans (52%) say Barack Obama’s expression of support for gay marriage did not affect their opinion of the president. A quarter (25%) say they feel less favorably toward Obama because of this while 19% feel more favorably.

Read the full report.

Deportations have reached record levels under President Obama, rising to an annual average of nearly 400,000 since 2009, about 30% higher than annual average during the second term of the Bush administration and about double the annual average during George W. Bush’s first term.

Not all Latinos are aware that the Obama administration has stepped up deportations of unauthorized immigrants. A plurality (41%) of Latinos say that the Obama administration is deporting more unauthorized immigrants than the Bush administration. Slightly more than a third (36%) say the two administrations have deported about the same number of immigrants. And one-in-ten (10%) Latinos say the Obama administration has deported fewer unauthorized immigrants than the Bush administration.

Read the full report for more information on these subjects:

• Recent trends in U.S. immigration enforcement
• Awareness and views of immigrant deportations
• Views of immigration policy
• Dissatisfaction with the nation’s direction
• Latinos and the 2012 presidential election
• Views of the political parties and party identification