Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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Religion plays an important role in the personal lives of most Americans. The number of people saying religion is very important to them has gradually increased over the past two decades, after declining sharply between the mid-1960s and late 1970s. Currently, nearly two-thirds of Americans (64%) call religion very important. Fully nine-in-ten pray at least […]
The public acknowledges that religious organizations play a constructive role in American life. Three-quarters of Americans say churches, synagogues and other houses of worship contribute to solving important social problems. Roughly one-quarter say churches contribute a great deal to solving important problems, and those who hold this view are among the most likely to strongly […]
In general, the public is not unduly concerned over the nation’s growing religious diversity. However, certain groups are worried about a rise of secularism. More generally, there is fairly broad dissatisfaction with the way the news media and Hollywood treat religion and religious people. Less than half of Americans (45%) say the news media is […]
For decades, Americans have been split over the question of whether organized religion should take an active role in politics. About half of the public (48%) is willing to see churches “express their views on day-to-day social and political questions.” But a comparable number (46%) feel that churches should keep out of political matters.[1. Given […]
Environmental Balancing Act Most Americans (54%) express at least some confidence in Bush’s ability to balance environmental and economic demands, with 21% expressing “a lot” of confidence in the president in this area. This is comparable to how the public viewed Clinton’s environmental leadership. In 1997, 61% had some confidence in Clinton’s ability to balance […]
Introduction and Summary As religion plays a more prominent role in public life, sharp divisions of opinion about the mixing of church and state are apparent. Most notably, while the public expresses strong support for the idea of faith-based groups receiving government funding to provide social services, in practice, it has many reservations. Most Americans […]
Split Over Mandatory Sentences Clearly, the public is conflicted on many aspects of the drug war. While most think of drug use as a disease, there is relatively little support for drug treatment programs; just over a third think drug treatment would be a very effective means of reducing drug addiction. These divisions carry over […]
Introduction and Summary The nation’s drug war is viewed as a failure by most Americans, and there is scant hope it will ever succeed. Nearly three-quarters of Americans say we are losing the drug war, and just as many say that insatiable demand will perpetuate the nation’s drug habit. Yet this deep sense of futility […]
Blacks Remain Wary On balance, every major demographic group approves of the way Bush is handling his job as president, with one exception — non-whites. Overall, non-whites are fairly evenly divided over Bush’s job performance: 30% approve, 33% disapprove, 37% have no opinion. Blacks are the most critical: 22% approve, 40% disapprove and 38% have […]