Overview As Barack Obama and Mitt Romney prepare for their first debate on Oct. 3, the issues at the top of the voters’ agenda have changed little since 2008. Fully 87% of registered voters say that the economy will be very important to their vote, while 83% say jobs will be very important to their […]
For decades, the public has sympathized more with Israel than the Palestinians in the Middle East conflict. However, the partisan gap in sympathies, while little changed in recent years, is as large as it has been in more than three decades of polling. Discussion of the U.S.-Israeli relationship is likely to come to the fore […]
John Kerry, the secretary of state nominee, gets mixed ratings from the public, with 39% offering a favorable view and 36% an unfavorable one.
Barack Obama is in a relatively strong position heading into his second term. His job approval now stands at 52% – among the highest since his first year in office. A year ago, 44% said they approved of the way Obama was handling his job as president. Both Democrats and independents offer more positive assessments […]
As the 113th Congress gets underway, the favorable ratings for the legislative branch match lows from more than two decades of Pew Research Center surveys. Just 23% of Americans say they have a favorable opinion of Congress. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) have an unfavorable view. Four years ago, as Obama came into office, 40% said they […]
People in non-gun-owning households have more positive views about the possible impact of stricter gun laws than those who live in a household with a gun. Majorities of those in non-gun households say that stricter gun laws would reduce deaths from mass shootings (66%) and accidents (65%), and would keep guns away from criminals (63%). […]
Democrats favor controlling gun ownership by 45 percentage points more than Republicans.
Overview Public views of economic news—both overall and across most sectors—are little changed in recent months. Today, about half of Americans (53%) say they are hearing a mix of good and bad news about the economy, while 41% say they are hearing mostly bad news and just 3% say they are hearing mostly good news. […]
Overview For the second time in a decade, the believability ratings for major news organizations have suffered broad-based declines. In the new survey, positive believability ratings have fallen significantly for nine of 13 news organizations tested. This follows a similar downturn in positive believability ratings that occurred between 2002 and 2004. The falloff in credibility […]