Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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High Marks for Political Institutions The public has generally high regard for major governmental institutions – even those, like the Supreme Court and FBI – that have recently been dogged by controversy. As in the past, the U.S. military is widely popular, with better than eight-in-ten rating it favorably. Seven-in-ten have a positive impression of […]
Partisan Gap on Missile Defense Opinions on missile defense have remained fairly consistent as the debate has heated up over the past few months. The 51%-38% margin of support for the idea is similar to the results of a survey in February, when a comparable question was asked. In the current poll, nearly one-in-three Americans […]
Finances Top Family Problem Economic concerns are weighing on the minds of Americans these days. When asked in an open-ended format to name the biggest problem currently facing them and their families, most Americans (62%) cite financial concerns, and the proportion doing so is up significantly from the mid-1990s. In 1994, 56% named financial concerns […]
Families and the Internet In addition to altering how teens interact with their friends, the Internet is introducing new dynamics into family life. In their overall judgment, parents think that the Internet’s role in their children’s lives beneficial. More than half of parents of online youth (55%) believe the Net is generally a good thing […]
Schools and the Internet In 1996, the Telecommunications Act was signed into law, creating the E-Rate program that provided discounts of 20% to 90% to schools (depending upon the number of poor children in a district) to allow them to purchase Internet access for the school or library. More than 98% of American public schools […]
Modest Achievements Perhaps not surprisingly, the achievements of the new Congress — which is just now considering major legislation on taxes and education — have yet to make much of an impression on most Americans. When asked to cite the most important accomplishment of Congress in an open-ended format, only 39% of respondents could come […]
National Press Club Washington, D.C. A discussion with: Jean Bethke Elshtain, Professor, University of Chicago and Co-chair, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life Professor Elshtain is a political philosopher whose task has been to show the connections between our political and our ethical convictions. Her works include Augustine and the Limits of Politics and […]
Online activities Online teens, particularly older ones, are omnivorous Web users. They sample a large variety of activities online. They particularly resemble the adult newcomers to the Internet that we named “Instant Acolytes” in the fall of 2000.[13.numoffset=”13″ See https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/Reports/2000/New-Internet-Users.aspx] Instant Acolytes and teens of all experience levels alike are enthusiastic Internet users, embracing the […]
Bush’s relative success in the news sections may also reflect a greater skill in managing the beat coverage of the Presidency than Clinton had. In tracking the topics covered, the study identified the top five ongoing stories for each president. Much of what the press has covered about Bush is the message he wanted to […]