U.S. religious groups and their political leanings
Mormons are the most heavily Republican-leaning religious group in the U.S., while a pair of major historically black Protestant denominations are two of the most reliably Democratic groups.
Candidate traits: assets and liabilities The survey asked about a series of hypothetical traits of presidential candidates and whether each would make one more or less likely to support a candidate. The most positive trait among those asked about was having served in the military: Half of Americans say they would be more likely to […]
Views of candidates’ religiousness In general, more people view the leading Republican candidates for president as being very or somewhat religious than say the same about the Democratic candidates. Roughly seven-in-ten adults say Ben Carson is at least somewhat religious, for example; 65% say the same about Ted Cruz and 61% say this about Marco […]
Countries with the most extensive government restrictions on religion Most countries in the world have some form of government restrictions on religion, but each year a few countries stand out as having particularly extensive restrictions. In 2014, 16 of the 198 countries included in the study had a “very high” level of government restrictions, down […]
Religious expression by political leaders Currently, 27% of Americans say there has been too much discussion of religious faith and prayer by political leaders, while 40% say there has been too little religious discussion. At a similar point in the 2012 presidential campaign, the balance of opinion on this question leaned in the opposite direction […]
Pew Research Center President Michael Dimock examines the changes – some profound, some subtle – that the U.S. experienced during Barack Obama’s presidency.