Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics

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    Most Say Homosexuality Should Be Accepted By Society

    While the public is divided over same-sex marriage, a majority of Americans (58%) say that homosexuality should be accepted, rather than discouraged, by society. Among younger people in particular, there is broad support for societal acceptance of homosexuality. More than six-in-ten (63%) of those younger than 50 – 69% of those younger than 30 – […]

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    Bush Lost Battle Over the Surplus, But Won Tax Cut War

    A decade ago, Washington grappled with a problem that seems unreal in today’s economic climate – what to do with the budget surplus? In 2000, George W. Bush had campaigned on a pledge to return part of the surplus to taxpayers in the form of an across-the-board tax cut. Bush’s opponent, Al Gore, countered with […]

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    Death of bin Laden: More Coverage than Interest

    Overview While the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan by U.S. military forces attracted a near-record amount of news coverage, public interest in the story has been comparatively modest. Just more than four-in-ten (42%) say they followed news about the Al Qaeda leader’s  killing more closely than any other news last week. One-in-five (20%) […]

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    Obama Bump Recedes a Bit

    Overview Barack Obama’s job approval rating has fallen slightly since the day after Osama bin Laden’s death was announced. But the balance of opinion regarding Obama’s job performance remains more positive than it was in early April. There also continues to be more optimism about the U.S. achieving its goals in Afghanistan than there was […]

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    Why Are Gas Prices Rising? A Mix of Reasons

    As gas prices soar, many Americans pin the blame on greed or a push for higher profits among oil companies, speculators and oil-producing nations. About three-in-ten (31%) offer a variation on this theme – greed, oil companies or speculation – when asked what they think is the main reason gasoline prices have gone up recently, […]

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    Video: 2011 Political Typology

    Michael Dimock, associate director of the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, provides an overview of the findings of the report Beyond Red vs. Blue: Political Typology.

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    How We Identified Your Group

    Identifying which group is the best fit for you involved matching the pattern of your answers to the political value questions and party affiliation to the responses of people who took the 2011 typology national survey. This entailed a two step process: first creating the typology groups for the survey and then identifying which typology […]

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    Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology

    Overview With the economy still struggling and the nation involved in multiple military operations overseas, the public’s political mood is fractious. In this environment, many political attitudes have become more doctrinaire at both ends of the ideological spectrum, a polarization that reflects the current atmosphere in Washington. Yet at the same time, a growing number […]

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    Too Much Coverage: Birth Certificate, Royal Wedding

    Summary of Findings Majorities of Americans say news organizations focused too much last week on both the royal wedding in England and the release of the long-form version of Barack Obama’s birth certificate. Nearly two-thirds (64%) say the press gave too much coverage to the April 29 wedding in London of Prince William and Kate […]