Only About Half Identify Obama as Christian Washington,D.C. – Mostvoters continue to say it is important for a president to have strong religiousbeliefs. But voters have limited awareness of the religious faiths of both MittRomney and Barack Obama. And there is little evidence to suggest that concernsabout the candidates’ respective faiths will have a meaningful […]
The Political Party scale was determined by selecting a set of questions from the Pew Research Center’s 2012 American political values survey representing a range of political values that are each consistently associated with party identification.
Religiously unaffiliated Americans tend to be, almost by definition, less religious than Americans who belong to a religious tradition. In Pew Research Center surveys, the unaffiliated are less likely than the general public as a whole to say that religion is very important in their lives, to attend worship services regularly and to pray on […]
The following list includes brief descriptions of some religious groups and other terms used in the survey report that may be unfamiliar to readers. Related to Buddhism Jodo Shinshu Meaning “True Pure Land School,” Jodo Shinshu is a Japanese branch of Mahayana Buddhism. Shinran, a disciple of the Buddhist monk Honan, established the branch, which […]
Obama Endorsement Has Limited Impact Washington, D.C. – Reports that the Democratic Party may add support for gay marriage to its party platform are in keeping with a significant shift of opinion on this issue among Democrats nationwide. Just four years ago, in 2008, only half (50%) of Democrats favored allowing gays and lesbians to […]
Young voters are significantly less engaged in this year’s election than at a comparable point in 2008 and now lag far behind older voters in interest in the campaign and intention to vote. The share of voters younger than 30 who are following campaign news very closely is roughly half what it was at this […]
Reports that the Democratic Party may add support for gay marriage to its party platform are in keeping with a significant shift of opinion on this issue among Democrats nationwide. A new report finds that support for same-sex marriage among Democrats has jumped from 50% in 2008 to 65% today.
If coverage of Obama focused largely on his handling of the economy, the media narrative about Romney was more varied. Romney’s biography generated more press attention than any other subject. The largest of component of this (14% of Romney biographical assertions studied) raised doubts about Romney’s career at the Bain Capital private investment firm. And […]
Overview As next week’s third and final presidential debate on foreign policy approaches, a national survey by the Pew Research Center finds increasing public pessimism about developments in the Middle East and more support for tough policies to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and economic issues with China. However, there is no change in the […]