Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
People in the former Eastern bloc countries now rate their lives markedly higher than they did in 1991 shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Czechs, Poles and Slovaks report the highest levels of life satisfaction – and some of the greatest gains over the past two decades. Hungarians and Bulgarians are least likely […]
Publics in most former communist countries generally express low levels of religious commitment. Majorities in the Czech Republic, Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria and the former East Germany say they seldom or never attend religious services, and few say religion is very important in their lives or that they pray at least once a day. Poles are […]
Nearly two decades after the unification of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), Germans in the east and the west continue to express positive opinions about their country’s reunification, and a solid majority of east Germans say they are better off as a result of unification. At the same […]
Publics of former Iron Curtain countries generally look back approvingly at the collapse of communism. Majorities in most former Soviet republics and Eastern European countries endorse the emergence of democracy and capitalism. However, the initial enthusiasm about these changes has dimmed in most of the countries surveyed.
Two decades after the end of communist rule, Eastern Europeans have largely embraced democratic values. Most want civil liberties, competitive elections and other tenets of democracy. However, throughout the region there is a significant gap between what people want and what they have, as relatively few believe the elements of democracy that they prize actually […]
Most publics in the former Eastern bloc express support for the economic changes that have taken place in their countries since the collapse of communism, but views about the move from a statecontrolled economy to a market economy are much more negative than they were in 1991. As was the case nearly two decades ago, […]
Trends in broadband adoption Some 63% of adult Americans have broadband internet connections at home, according to the April 2009 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. This figure compares with 55% recorded a year earlier and the eight percentage point increase translates into a 15% growth rate from May […]