Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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The Public Remains Disconnected In spite of the accelerated pace of the 2000 presidential campaign, only 16% of the public is following news about candidates very closely. Interest in the campaign has not meaningfully increased since July, despite competitive contests for both parties’ nominations. Even fewer Americans closely followed the recent GOP candidate debates. Less […]
Cynicism Waning Americans are less cynical about politics than they were five years ago. More people now say that they can influence the political process, and fewer people see their elected officials as inattentive to their needs. Almost three-quarters (73%) agree that voting gives them some say in how the government runs things a […]
Introduction and Summary Americans anticipate many perils in the next century, but none of them, no matter how grave, can dim the public’s positive view of the future. Despite consensus forecasts of natural disasters, environmental calamities and international terrorism, Americans are near unanimous in their confidence that life will get better for themselves, their families […]
A Small Boost for McCain Little has changed over the past month in the races for the Democratic and Republican presidential nominations. Recent news coverage of problems with Gore’s campaign has done little to hurt him among Democrats, who continue to support him by a nearly two-to-one margin over Bradley (60% vs. 31%). In the […]
An overwhelming 81% say they are optimistic about their lives and the lives of their families over the next half century; 40% consider themselves very optimistic. These optimists tend to be young, college educated and have higher than average incomes. Among Americans under age 30, 85% report feeling positive about their futures, compared to 72% […]
The technological progress of the 20th century is a source of great pride for Americans, who place advancements in science and technology — especially the space program — at the top of the list of American achievements. A nearly unanimous public attributes U.S. accomplishments to the Constitution, free elections and the free enterprise system. Although […]
The Voters’ Agenda The public appears ready to extend the congressional debate concerning the regulation of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to the presidential campaign. When asked to name the one issue they most want to hear the presidential candidates discuss, nearly one-in-five people mention issues related to health care. An additional 14% cite Social Security; […]
The memories that are shared by large majorities of Americans are largely of American events and often very recent ones. Memories of significant events that did not include the U.S. are less clear. For example, while three-quarters of Americans remember the moment they heard the news of the outbreak of war in the Persian Gulf, […]
Introduction and Summary American reaction to the end of the air war in Kosovo is mixed. While public support for intervention rebounded in the closing days of the conflict, there is little indication of public exaltation at its end. Two-thirds of the public (68%) now says the United States and NATO did the right thing […]