Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    After Boston, Little Change in Views of Islam and Violence

    Overview The public’s views of whether Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence have changed little in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings. Currently, 42% say Islam is more likely than other religions to encourage violence among its believers, while 46% say Islam does not encourage violence more than other religions. […]

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    Division, Uncertainty over New Immigration Bill

    Overview As Congress debates a bill to overhaul the nation’s immigration policy, much of the public has yet to form an opinion about the legislation. About as many say they favor (33%) as oppose (28%) the immigration bill before Congress, but fully 38% say they don’t know what they think of the legislation. At this […]

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    Modest Support for Military Force if Syria Used Chemical Weapons

    Overview By a 45% to 31% margin, more Americans favor than oppose the U.S. and its allies taking military action against Syria, if it is confirmed that Syria used chemical weapons against anti-government groups. Public interest in the Syrian conflict remains low, and nearly a quarter of Americans (23%) have no opinion about the use […]

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    About the Survey

    The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted April 25-28, 2013 among a national sample of 1,003 adults 18 years of age or older living in the continental United States (500 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 503 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 237 who had no landline […]

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    Political Blame for Flight Delays Spread Evenly

    Overview As Washington sprang into action late last week to end the furlough of federal air-traffic controllers and delays at airports across the country, the public blamed both sides for the situation. Nearly equal percentages say congressional Republicans (34%) and the Obama administration (32%) are more to blame for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) budget […]

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    Mixed Reactions to Senate Gun Vote

    Overview The key Senate vote that halted gun control legislation last week is drawing a mixed reaction from the American public: 47% express negative feelings about the vote while 39% have a positive reaction to the Senate’s rejection of gun control legislation that included background checks on gun purchases. Overall, 15% say they are angry […]

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    Most Expect ’Occasional Acts of Terrorism’ in the Future

    Overview Last week’s bombings at the Boston Marathon attracted broad public interest: 63% of Americans say they followed the story very closely, among the highest interest in any news story in the past decade. And the bombings drew far more public attention than any terrorist event since Sept. 11, 2001, which 78% reported following very […]

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    Public’s Knowledge of Science and Technology

    Report About eight-in-ten Americans (83%) identify ultraviolet as the type of radiation that sunscreen protects against. Nearly as many (77%) know that the main concern about the overuse of antibiotics is that it can lead to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. However, only about half (51%) of the public knows that “fracking” is a process that extracts natural […]

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    State Governments Viewed Favorably as Federal Rating Hits New Low

    Overview Even as public views of the federal government in Washington have fallen to another new low, the public continues to see their state and local governments in a favorable light. Overall, 63% say they have a favorable opinion of their local government, virtually unchanged over recent years. And 57% express a favorable view of […]

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    How Do Americans Feel About Doing Their Taxes?

    Ben Franklin once said that nothing in life is certain, but death and taxes. More than two centuries later, taxes remain a yearly ritual for most Americans. Most say they dislike – or even hate – doing their taxes, but about a third say they like it – or even love it. Click through the responses […]