45% of Americans Say U.S. Should Be a ‘Christian Nation’
But they hold differing opinions about what that phrase means, and two-thirds of U.S. adults say churches should keep out of politics.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Reem Nadeem
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Midterm Voting Intentions Are Divided, Economic Gloom Persists
The economy is clearly the top issue for voters; fully 79% say it will be very important to their voting decisions – the highest share among 18 issues included on the survey. The public continues to take a dim view of current economic conditions. Just 17% of U.S. adults say the economy is in excellent or good shape, little changed from the 13% who said this in July.
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Lack of Preparedness Among Top Reactions Americans Have to Public Health Officials’ COVID-19 Response
Overall, 46% of Americans say the statement “public health officials were unprepared for the outbreak” describes their views extremely or very well, including similar shares of Republicans and Democrats.
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Most Latinos Say Democrats Care About Them and Work Hard for Their Vote, Far Fewer Say So of GOP
Abortion has risen as an election issue for Latinos, with a majority saying it should be legal in all or most cases. Meanwhile, 80% say the economy is a very important issue when deciding who to vote for in the upcoming congressional midterm elections, a greater share than any other issue.
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Modest Declines in Positive Views of ‘Socialism’ and ‘Capitalism’ in U.S.
Americans see capitalism as giving people more opportunity and more freedom than socialism, while they see socialism as more likely to meet people’s basic needs, though these perceptions differ significantly by party. Many Democrats say socialism meets people’s basic needs; Republicans say it restricts individual freedoms.
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Modeling the Future of Religion in America
Since the 1990s, large numbers of Americans have left Christianity to join the growing ranks of U.S. adults who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.” If recent trends in religious switching continue, Christians could make up less than half of the U.S. population within a few decades.
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Positive Views of Supreme Court Decline Sharply Following Abortion Ruling
Americans’ ratings of the Supreme Court are now as negative as – and more politically polarized than – at any point in more than three decades of polling. And nearly two-thirds of Democrats (64%) now say the Supreme Court has too much power, almost three times the share who said this in August 2020 (23%).
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Abortion Rises in Importance as a Voting Issue, Driven by Democrats
While the economy remains the dominant issue in this fall’s midterm elections, the issue of abortion has increased markedly in importance. More voters continue to view their midterm vote as an expression of opposition to Joe Biden than support for him. But across both parties, more voters now say Biden is not much of a factor in their vote.
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India’s Sex Ratio at Birth Begins To Normalize
India’s artificially wide ratio of baby boys to baby girls – which arose in the 1970s from the use of prenatal diagnostic technology to facilitate sex-selective abortions – now appears to be narrowing. Son bias has declined sharply among Sikhs, while Christians continue to have a natural balance of sons and daughters.
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As Partisan Hostility Grows, Signs of Frustration With the Two-Party System
Increasingly, Republicans and Democrats view not just the opposing party but also the people in that party in a negative light. Growing shares in each party now describe those in the other party as more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral and unintelligent than other Americans. Nearly half of younger adults say they “wish there were more parties to choose from.”
