Pew Research Center Staff

Majorities in 18 of 24 countries describe current economic conditions in their country as bad.

Currently, just 29% of Republicans are satisfied with the state of the nation, an eleven-point drop in just two months, and half the proportion expressing satisfaction in January 2007

Nearly six-in-ten Americans say Republicans favor the rich.

Young voters identify much more with Democrats than Republicans.

By a margin of 46-42, Americans say that the rich are rich mainly because they know the right people or are born into wealth rather than because of hard work, ambition or education.

A plurality of Americans think it was a bad decision to hold the Olympics in Beijing.

Nearly half of independents (46%) are undecided or may change their minds.

Not one Shia respondent in the Lebanese sample expresses a favorable view of America

Asked to rate the importance of various priorities in life, some two-thirds (68%) of the self-identified middle class say that free time is very important to them, more than say the same about anything else on the list, including having children (62%), a successful career (59%), being married (55%), or living a religious life (53%).

In a 24-nation survey, the median percentage saying the French government respects the freedoms of its people is 63%.