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  • report

    About the Survey

    The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted September 25-29, 2013, among a national sample of 1,005 adults 18 years of age or older living in the continental United States (502 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 503 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 240 who had no landline […]

  • report

    Republicans Sour on Ben Bernanke

    Survey Report As Ben Bernanke prepares to step down as chairman of the Federal Reserve in January, the public views him somewhat more favorably (38%) than unfavorably (31%), with 32% unable to offer a rating. Bernanke is better known now than he was in March 2008, when 55% could not rate him; at that time, […]

  • short reads

    Can presidential speeches change minds? The evidence suggest not

    The presidency may well be a “bully pulpit,” in Theodore Roosevelt’s original sense, a position that commands attention. But as President Barack Obama prepares to address the nation Tuesday in support of taking military action against Syria, there’s little evidence (at least in recent times) that presidential speeches are very effective at moving the needle […]

  • short reads

    5 facts about the Pledge of Allegiance

    Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court – the state’s highest court – will hear arguments today in Doe v. Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, a case in which an anonymous atheist couple is challenging the use of the phrase “under God” in recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools. The plaintiffs, represented by the American Humanist […]

  • report

    Widening Regional Divide over Abortion Laws

    Overview While the balance of opinion toward abortion nationwide has remained largely steady over the past 20 years, there are widening disparities in public attitudes on the issue across different regions of the country. Opposition to legal abortion is highest in parts of the South – including Texas, which recently passed sweeping new abortion restrictions. […]

  • report

    Few See Adequate Limits on NSA Surveillance Program

    Overview A majority of Americans – 56% – say that federal courts fail to provide adequate limits on the telephone and internet data the government is collecting as part of its anti-terrorism efforts. An even larger percentage (70%) believes that the government uses this data for purposes other than investigating terrorism. And despite the insistence […]