Dividing People into ’Liberals,’ ’Moderates’ and ’Conservatives’ – Too Simplistic?
Assessing the value of using the labels “moderate,” “liberal” and “conservative” to describe the electorate.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Assessing the value of using the labels “moderate,” “liberal” and “conservative” to describe the electorate.
Senior research staff answers questions from readers relating to all the areas covered by our seven projects ranging from polling techniques and findings, to media, technology, religious, demographic and global attitudes trends.
Senior research staff answer questions from readers relating to all the areas covered by our seven projects, ranging from polling techniques and findings, to media, technology, religious, demographic and global attitudes trends.
Opinion about gun control has been split since April 2009, but this marked a substantial change in attitudes from previous years in which majorities of Americans consistently prioritized gun control over gun rights. See a breakdown of opinion about gun control across numerous demographic categories.
The public remains divided — and deeply so along party lines — on the issue of gun control and gun rights. Most Americans say tragic events like the shooting are just the isolated acts of troubled individuals, and not a reflection of broader problems in American society.
There will almost certainly be far more nonvoters than voters this year. Nonvoters are younger, less educated and more financially stressed than likely voters. They are also significantly less Republican and more likely to approve of Obama’s job performance.
Perhaps the best way to think about public opinion and its relationship to politics and policymaking is that the American public is typically short on facts, but often long on judgment.
At a conference at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2010, Pew Research Center analysts and outside experts discussed research findings about the Millennial generation, the American teens and twenty-somethings now making the passage into adulthood. The last of three sessions addressed the question of whether Millennials, who rocked the vote in 2008, will show up at the polls this November and how they may shape the political landscape beyond?
On Wednesday evening, eight Republican presidential candidates met in a debate at the University of New Hampshire. How did candidate views compare with public opinion on the topics discussed?
Surveys taken before the Virginia Tech shootings showed that Americans had become less disposed to support gun control measures than they were in the years surrounding the Columbine school shootings in 1999.
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