Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The U.S. Postal Service, Park Service, Weather Service and NASA are viewed favorably across the political spectrum, while views of ICE are deeply polarized.
Our latest politics data every month
All
Publications
Bethesda, Maryland A native of Pakistan who served as his country’s high commissioner to Great Britain, Akbar Ahmed offers the unique perspective of an anthropologist who has lived in and studied both Islamic and Western cultures. The BBC has described him as “the world’s leading authority on contemporary Islam.” He is the principal investigator for […]
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts A reviewer of political scientist Samuel P. Huntington’s first book compared him unfavorably to Mussolini. A reviewer of his 19th and latest book dubbed him “Patrick Buchanan with footnotes.” But those reactions were mild compared with the controversy over the international political paradigm advanced in Huntington’s most influential book, The Clash of […]
Summary of Findings The public is paying a great deal of attention to major overseas events – the reported terrorist plot against U.S. trans-Atlantic jet liners, the war in Lebanon, as well as the ongoing violence in Iraq. However, there is little indication that these dramatic stories have materially changed public attitudes. Worries about another […]
Concerns Pre-Date Airplane Plot
Summary of Findings The public is of two minds about news reports that the government has been secretly examining the bank records of American citizens who may have ties to terrorist groups. By a margin of 50%-34%, Americans think that news organizations have hurt rather than helped the interests of the American people with these […]
Amid shifts in demographics and partisan allegiances, registered voters are now evenly split between the Democratic Party and the GOP.
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.
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.
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.
