Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Politics

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    Public Worried about Iran but Wary of Military Action

    Summary of Findings Most Americans believe that Iran wants to possess nuclear technology in order to develop nuclear weapons, not energy. But there is broad public opposition to launching U.S. air strikes against military targets in Iran, with multilateral sanctions by far the preferred option approach for dealing with the situation. More than eight-in-ten Americans […]

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    The Iraq-Vietnam Difference

    Public opinion toward the U.S. war in Iraq bears striking parallels – and clear contrasts – with the war in Vietnam more than three decades ago. In both cases, presidents tied their political fortunes to the war. And in both cases, they paid a heavy political price when the public grew disillusioned with the conflict. […]

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    The Cell Phone Challenge to Survey Research

    Summary of Findings A growing number of Americans rely solely on a cell phone for their telephone service, and many more are considering giving up their landline phones. This trend presents a challenge to public opinion polling, which typically relies on a random sample of the population of landline subscribers. A new study of the […]

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    The Problem of American Exceptionalism

    In an excerpt from their new book, America Against the World, Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut and journalist Bruce Stokes examine the major factors, real and imagined, that contribute to the global rise in anti-Americanism.

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    Attitudes Toward Immigration in Red and Blue

    New analysis finds predominantly Republican “red” as well as swing counties significantly more opposed to immigration – both legal and illegal – than are predominantly Democratic “blue” counties, where immigrants are much more populous.

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    Will White Evangelicals Desert the GOP?

    Although President Bush’s approval rating has declined as much among white evangelicals as among the public as a whole, so far evangelicals don’t seem likely to abandon the GOP this fall.

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    Will White Evangelicals Desert the GOP?

    President Bush’s job approval rating has fallen, and his personal favorability is down significantly as well, leading many Republicans to worry about the impact a weakened president will have on his party’s showing in the fall mid-term elections. Even among one of the president’s most supportive constituencies, white evangelical Protestants, Mr. Bush has suffered declines. […]