Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
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In December 2009, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life published its first report analyzing the extent to which governments and societies around the world impinge on religious beliefs and practices. The report found that about 70% of the world’s population was living in countries where governments imposed high restrictions on religion […]
Download the summary of results with questions: Summary of Results with questions PDF (1.03 MB 21 Pages) Government Restrictions on Religion To assess the level of restrictions on religion by governments around the world, the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life selected the following 20 questions for the Government Restrictions Index (GRI). […]
As the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks approaches, a comprehensive public opinion survey finds no indication of increased alienation or anger among Muslim Americans in response to concerns about home-grown Islamic terrorists, controversies about the building of mosques and other pressures that have been brought to bear on this high-profile minority group in recent years.
The tables below show the results for each of 198 countries and territories on the 20 questions that comprise the Pew Forum’s Government Restrictions Index and the 13 questions that comprise the Social Hostilities Index. There also is a table showing the results for one additional government question that was only coded for the period […]
This report was produced by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life. The Pew Forum delivers timely, impartial information on issues at the intersection of religion and public affairs. The Pew Forum is a nonpartisan, nonadvocacy organization and does not take positions on policy debates. Based in Washington, D.C., the Pew Forum […]
Compared with the general public, fewer Muslim Americans say they are politically conservative, and a greater number say they prefer a bigger government that provides more services. Muslim Americans align strongly with the Democratic Party and voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama in the 2008 election. On social issues, Muslim Americans are less accepting of homosexuality […]
Muslims and Westerners offer mixed views of each other. Majorities in Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. express favorable views of Muslims, but opinions are divided in Germany and negative in Spain. Similarly, Muslims in Lebanon, Jordan and Indonesia have positive opinions of Christians, while views are overwhelmingly unfavorable in Turkey and Pakistan; attitudes toward […]
Muslim and Western publics continue to largely agree that relations between them are poor, and disagree about who is at fault – Muslims largely blame Westerners, while those in the West generally blame Muslims. However, in both Western and predominantly Muslim nations, there is a shared concern about the threat posed by Islamic extremism.