Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Politics & Policy

Topic Spotlight

  • Trump’s Job Approval: 40% of Americans approve of how Trump is handling his job as president, according to a late September survey. Vice President Vance and congressional leaders in both parties are also viewed more negatively than positively. (Read the short read)
  • Immigration: 47% of Americans disapprove of the Trump administration’s overall approach to immigration, while 42% approve, according to a June survey. But evaluations are largely split along partisan lines. (Read the report)
  • Voters in 2024: Trump won the 2024 presidential election with a voter coalition that was more racially and ethnically diverse than in 2020 or 2016. (Read the report)

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  • transcript

    Courting Catholics in 2008

    The presidential candidates have recently intensified their efforts to woo Catholic voters, underscoring the election-year significance of this key swing constituency. Pew Forum Senior Fellow John Green discusses Catholic voting trends in past elections, the challenges facing the campaigns as they reach out to Catholics and how the church’s growing Hispanic population may impact future […]

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    Obama and Wright Controversy Dominate News Cycle

    Summary of Findings Barack Obama’s March 18th speech on race and politics is arguably the biggest political event of the campaign so far. Fully 85% of Americans say they heard at least a little about Obama’s speech, and most (54%) say they heard a lot about it. Not surprisingly, Barack Obama has been far and […]

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    Obama Weathers the Wright Storm, Clinton Faces Credibility Problem.

    Summary of Findings The videos of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s controversial sermons and Barack Obama’s subsequent speech on race and politics have attracted more public attention than any events thus far in the 2008 presidential campaign. A majority of the public (51%) said they heard “a lot” about the videos, and an even larger percentage (54%) […]

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    A Portrait of American Catholics on the Eve of Pope Benedict’s Visit to the U.S.

    When Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the United States on April 15, he will find a Catholic Church that is undergoing rapid ethnic and demographic changes, and whose flock is quite diverse both in their religious practices and levels of commitment, as well as in their social and political views. And, as this portrait of […]

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    Fewer Voters Identify as Republicans

    The balance of party identification in the American electorate now favors the Democratic Party by a decidedly larger margin than in either of the two previous presidential election cycles. In 5,566 interviews with registered voters conducted by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press during the first two months of 2008, 36% […]

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    Public Continues to Fault Government for Troop Care

    Summary of Findings A year after the problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and other military hospitals made major news, the public remains highly critical of the government’s performance in supporting and caring for soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Fully 72% say the government does not give enough support to soldiers […]

Signature Reports

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Americans’ Dismal Views of the Nation’s Politics

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.

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Beyond Red vs. Blue: The Political Typology

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.