The separation of church and state has come under scrutiny again this summer after the Supreme Court sided with religious conservatives in a series of rulings. One of the rulings allows states to fund religious schools indirectly, while another protects religious schools from federal employment discrimination lawsuits.
Americans have been debating where to draw the line between religion and government since the country’s founding. And even as the percentage of religiously unaffiliated Americans rises, church and state remain intertwined in many ways – often with the public’s support.
Here are eight facts about the connections between religion and government in the United States, based on previously published Pew Research Center analyses.
President Donald Trump has made big changes to the federal judiciary since taking office in 2017. Trump has appointed two Supreme Court justices – Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh – as well as nearly 200 other judges with lifetime appointments to lower federal courts.
So how does Trump compare with other presidents in the number and personal characteristics of the judges he has appointed to the federal bench so far? Below are four charts that compare Trump’s record on judicial appointments to those of his recent White House predecessors, going back to Jimmy Carter.
All findings are based on a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Federal Judicial Center, the research and education arm of the federal judiciary. The analysis focuses on judges already confirmed to their positions by the U.S. Senate – not nominees who are still awaiting votes.
Here are key facts about digital-native news organizations, based on Pew Research Center analyses of data from Comscore, eMarketer and other sources. All data predates the current downturn related to the coronavirus.
Republicans and Democrats largely disagree over the seriousness of several major problems currently facing the country, even as the United States grapples with issues including a surge in new coronavirus cases and an economic recession.
Democrats are generally far more likely than Republicans to view several concerns – including how racial and ethnic minorities are treated by the criminal justice system, the coronavirus outbreak and unemployment – as very big problems in the country, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted June 16 to 22 (before the most recent spike in coronavirus cases in several states).
For the most part, partisan differences are over the severity of these problems. For example, large majorities in both parties – 95% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 72% of Republicans and Republican leaners – agree the coronavirus outbreak is either a very big or moderately big problem for the country. However, roughly twice as many Democrats (76%) as Republicans (37%) say it is a very big problem.
Many of the values of the feminist movement have been accepted across the political spectrum in the United States, even among Americans who don’t personally identify as feminists, according to a Pew Research Center survey about gender equality that comes 100 years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
For example, a majority of Democrats and Republicans – whether they identify as feminists or not – say it is very important for women to have equal rights with men. Similarly, majorities in both partisan coalitions support adding the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The survey comes as scholars and commentators debate the impact of feminism on women’s rights and broader American culture. Some argue that feminism has become universal and that the values and principles of women’s equality and empowerment have already been adopted to a large extent by society, no longer requiring identification with the label of feminist.
From global protests against racial injustice to the 2020 election, some Americans who use social media are taking to these platforms to mobilize others and show their support for causes or issues. But experiences and attitudes related to political activities on social media vary by race and ethnicity, age, and party, according to a Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted June 16-22, 2020.
People can be politically active on social media in many ways. This survey asked Americans about four different types of activities that they may have engaged in on these platforms. Overall, about one-third of social media users (36%) say they have used sites like Facebook, Twitter and others in the past month to post a picture to show their support for a cause, look up information about rallies or protests happening in their area (35%) or encourage others to take action on issues they regard as important (32%). A smaller share (18%) reports using a hashtag related to a political or social issue on social media during this time.
Hispanics have played a significant role in driving U.S. population growth over the past decade, though the group is not growing as quickly as it once did. From 2010 to 2019, the U.S. population increased by 18.9 million, and Hispanics accounted for more than half (52%) of this growth, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of new U.S. Census Bureau population estimates, the last before 2020 census figures are released.
In 2019, the number of Hispanics reached a record 60.6 million, making up 18% of the U.S. population. This is up from 50.7 million in 2010, when Hispanics were 16% of the population. The number of Hispanics is growing more slowly than it previously did, due to a decline in the annual number of births to Hispanic women and a drop in immigration, particularly from Mexico. From 2015 to 2019, the Hispanic population grew by an average of 1.9% per year, down significantly from a peak of 4.8% from 1995 to 2000.
Election posters of presidential incumbent Andrzej Duda and challenger Rafal Trzaskowski on a street in Krakow, Poland, on July 2. A runoff between the two is planned for July 12. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Poles will vote on July 12 in a runoff election between incumbent President Andrzej Duda of the right-wing populist Law and Justice Party and Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski of the more progressive, pro-European Union Civic Platform. In the first round of voting in June, Duda failed to win an outright majority, while Trzaskowski earned roughly a third of the vote.
Ahead of the runoff, here is a look at how Polish people see their democracy, international relations and social issues in the country, based on a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2019. Read More →
The youngest adults, those ages 18 to 29, differ from older Americans in their news consumption habits as well as in their responses to major 2020 news events and the coverage they receive – and this often holds true between younger and older adults belonging to the same political party.
Here are five facts about how 18- to 29-year-olds view the coverage and messaging around several dominant stories – particularly the demonstrations following the killing of George Floyd in police custody and the coronavirus pandemic. Read More →
Demonstrators carry signs during the 2020 Women’s March on Jan. 18 in Washington, D.C. (Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
From the right to vote to workplace protections, many of the gains women have made throughout U.S. history have been achieved through various forms of activism around gender equality. Despite these gains, 57% of Americans say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to gender equality, and many say they have engaged in activism on this issue.
Some 13% of U.S. adults say they have contributed money to an organization that takes positions on issues related to gender or gender equality, and about one-in-ten have contacted an elected official to express their opinion on these issues (9%) or have attended a protest or rally focused on them (8%), according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Larger shares have expressed their opinion about gender or gender equality in conversations with family and friends (54%) or by posting or sharing content about these topics on social networking sites (21% among those who use these sites).
