Politics & Policy

u.s. elections & votersAug 22, 2025

58% favor allowing voters to cast their ballots by mail, but support remains much lower among Republicans than Democrats.

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short readsSep 19, 2013

Majority of U.S. Catholics’ opinions run counter to church on contraception, homosexuality

Three-quarters of U.S. Catholics say the church should permit birth control, about half favor same-sex marriage and just a third (33%) say homosexual behavior is a sin.
short readsSep 19, 2013

High rate of deportations continue under Obama despite Latino disapproval

The Obama administration has provided a way for young unauthorized immigrants brought to the country illegally as children to remain in the U.S., but the total number of deportations of unauthorized immigrants continue at near record levels.
reportSep 19, 2013

Rising Environmental Concerns in China

The Chinese public is increasingly worried about the quality of the country’s air and water. There is also widespread concern about inflation, inequality and corruption, and the safety of consumer goods and food.
short readsSep 19, 2013

How the Lehman Bros. crisis impacted the 2008 presidential race

How the economic disaster that occurred just weeks before Election Day changed the media’s campaign coverage, and perhaps the outcome, of the presidential race.
reportSep 19, 2013

Environmental Concerns on the Rise in China

Survey Report The Chinese public is increasingly concerned about the quality of the country’s air and water after a year in which China experienced numerous high-profile environmental problems. Meanwhile, even though most Chinese have rated their national economic situation positively in recent years, there are also widespread concerns about the side effects of economic growth, […]
short readsSep 19, 2013

Boehner’s hard line on budget is in step with GOP primary voters

This week, House Speaker John Boehner agreed to tie funding of the government to defunding Obamacare, as conservative members of his caucus have demanded. This proposal may be unlikely to survive the Democratic-controlled Senate, not to mention the president’s veto pen, but recent Pew Research Center surveys show that it is clearly in step with […]
short readsSep 19, 2013

Most uninsured Americans live in states that won’t run their own Obamacare exchanges

Almost six-in-ten uninsured Americans live in states that haven’t set up their own health-insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act.
short readsSep 19, 2013

Facing re-election, Merkel gets mostly high marks for handling of economy

Angela Merkel’s high marks on dealing with the euro crisis may be one reason she leads her chief rival Social Democratic chancellor candidate Peer Steinbrück.
short readsSep 18, 2013

Four takeaways from Tuesday’s Census income and poverty release

On Tuesday the Census Bureau released its annual trove of data on income, poverty and health insurance in 2012. Here were some of the key findings on household income: New data show that median household income has stagnated for the longest period since the government began collecting such data in 1967. In 2012 the median […]
reportSep 18, 2013

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, […]

Signature Reports

reportApr 9, 2024

Amid shifts in demographics and partisan allegiances, registered voters are now evenly split between the Democratic Party and the GOP.

reportSep 19, 2023

Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.

reportNov 9, 2021

Pew Research Center’s political typology provides a roadmap to today’s fractured political landscape. It organizes the public into nine distinct groups, based on an analysis of their attitudes and values. Even in a polarized era, the 2021 survey reveals deep divisions in both partisan coalitions.

reportDec 17, 2019

Partisanship remains the strongest factor dividing the American public. Yet there are substantial divisions within both parties on fundamental political values, views of current issues and the severity of the problems facing the nation.