Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

2014 Political Polarization Survey

Table 4.6 NSA Surveillance

Q126/a/b: Overall, do you approve or disapprove of the government’s collection of telephone and internet data as part of anti-terrorism efforts? ASK IF APPROVE: Do you think the National Security Agency should be allowed to collect whatever data it needs, or should there be limits on what it collects? ASK IF DISAPPROVE: Do you think the National Security Agency should be prevented from collecting any data about U.S. citizens, or should it be allowed to collect some limited information?

These questions are discussed in Section 4 of the report.

Approve Disapprove
Total % Collect whatever NSA needs % Should be limits % Total % Allowed limited collection % Prevented from collecting % (N)
TOTAL 41 15 26 54 38 15 3,341
PARTY WITH LEANERS
Rep/Rep lean 39 14 24 58 40 16 1,340
Dem/Dem lean 47 16 30 49 36 12 1,572
PARTY ID
Republican 42 16 26 55 39 15 788
Democrat 47 17 29 48 34 12 1,036
Independent 38 13 25 58 41 16 1,320
Lean Republican 35 13 22 61 42 18 552
Lean Democrat 46 15 30 52 39 12 536
IDEOLOGICAL CONSISTENCY
Consistently Conservative 23 7 15 75 49 24 347
Mostly Conservative 35 13 22 60 41 19 625
Mixed 44 16 28 51 35 14 1,179
Mostly Liberal 49 20 29 46 34 11 698
Consistently Liberal 41 13 28 53 38 12 492
SEX
Men 38 13 25 58 39 18 1,631
Women 44 17 27 49 36 12 1,710
AGE
18-49 42 15 27 54 37 16 1,336
50+ 41 15 25 53 38 13 1,960
DETAILED AGE
18-29 38 11 26 58 41 15 483
30-49 45 17 27 52 35 16 853
50-64 42 16 25 53 38 14 1,028
65+ 39 14 24 52 39 11 932
SEX BY AGE
Men 18-49 37 13 24 61 40 20 692
Men 50+ 40 14 25 55 40 14 922
Women 18-49 47 17 29 48 35 12 644
Women 50+ 42 16 24 51 37 12 1,038
RACE
White, non-Hispanic 38 13 25 57 41 15 2,407
Black, non-Hispanic 49 17 31 44 30 13 348
Hispanic 49 24 25 45 31 12 301
EDUCATION
College grad+ 46 16 29 51 37 13 1,378
Post grad 47 18 28 48 36 11 491
College grad 45 16 29 52 37 14 887
Some college 40 12 27 56 40 15 977
HS or less 40 16 23 53 36 16 972
FAMILY INCOME
$75,000+ 42 13 27 55 41 14 1,020
$30,000-$74,999 44 16 28 53 37 14 1,026
<$30,000 41 16 23 54 37 15 971
RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE
Total Protestant 42 15 26 53 37 15 1,673
White NH evang. Prot. 37 14 22 58 44 13 624
White NH mainline Prot. 42 13 28 53 38 15 583
Total Catholic 46 20 25 49 36 12 715
White NH Cath. 43 17 25 54 39 13 496
Unaffiliated 36 10 25 60 40 18 591
ATTEND RELIGIOUS SERVICES
Weekly or more 42 16 25 52 37 13 1,270
Less than weekly 41 14 26 55 38 15 2,031
REGION
Northeast 43 16 27 52 35 16 606
Midwest 40 14 25 54 40 13 724
South 42 15 26 53 36 16 1,240
West 40 15 25 56 40 14 771
AMONG REP/LEAN REP
Men 34 12 23 63 42 20 721
Women 44 18 26 51 38 12 619
18-29 39 15 24 57 41 15 163
30-49 45 16 29 53 36 17 315
50-64 36 15 21 60 42 17 430
65+ 34 12 22 61 44 14 417
Agree with Tea Party 26 9 17 72 47 24 555
Disagree/No opinion 47 18 29 49 37 12 761
AMONG DEM/LEAN DEM
Men 46 16 30 52 38 13 709
Women 47 17 29 47 34 12 863
18-29 42 11 31 56 41 14 240
30-49 47 18 28 51 35 14 409
50-64 51 19 32 46 34 10 467
65+ 46 19 26 43 34 9 441
AMONG WHITES
Men 34 11 23 63 43 18 1,177
Women 43 16 26 51 38 12 1,230
18-29 34 10 24 61 47 14 274
30-49 42 15 27 55 36 17 561
50-64 37 14 23 58 42 15 761
65+ 38 13 23 55 41 12 790
College grad 44 16 28 53 38 13 1,091
Some college or less 36 12 23 59 42 16 1,311
College grad men 39 15 24 58 41 16 566
College grad women 48 16 32 47 36 10 525
Some col or less men 32 9 23 64 45 19 609
Some col or less women 40 16 23 53 39 13 702
$75,000+ 39 13 26 57 43 13 839
$30,000-$74,999 43 14 28 54 39 14 760
<$30,000 34 13 20 60 42 17 578
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