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  • report

    Americans Thinking About Iraq, But Focused on the Economy

    Introduction and Summary A possible war with Iraq is an increasing concern of the American public. It has emerged as the national issue that people discuss most often with family and friends, and news interest in the Iraq debate rose dramatically in September. But as the midterm elections approach, it is the economy and other […]

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    Why The Generic Ballot Test?

    Throughout the election season, the Pew Research Center and other major polling organizations report a measure that political insiders sometimes call “the generic ballot.” This measure is the percentage of voters in national surveys who say they intend to vote for either the Republican or the Democratic candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in […]

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    Iraq and Just War: A Symposium

    10 a.m. – Noon Washington, D.C. Panelist include: Gerard Bradley is Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. A noted scholar in the fields of constitutional law and law and religion, his books include Catholicism, Liberalism, and Communitarianism. He is the director of Notre Dame’s Natural Law Institute and is a former president of […]

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    Bush Engages and Persuades Public on Iraq

    Introduction and Summary With his speech to the United Nations, President Bush took an important step in making the public case for military action against Iraq. A 52% majority now says Bush has explained clearly what’s at stake for the United States in Iraq. Less than a month ago, just 37% felt the president had […]

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    Remembering September 11th: What is the Truth that has been Revealed to Us?

    7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. New York, New York Featuring: Jean Bethke Elshtain, Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the University of Chicago Fred Dings, the University of South Carolina E.J. Dionne, Jr., Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, the Brookings Institution, Washington Post James Forbes, Riverside Church Aasma Khan, Muslims Against Terrorism […]

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    One Year Later: New Yorkers More Troubled, Washingtonians More On Edge

    Introduction Over the past year, many of the dramatic reactions of the public to the events of Sept. 11 have slowly faded. The spike in trust in government is mostly gone, the public once again is highly critical the of the news media, and even President Bush’s approval ratings have come down from the stratosphere.(1) […]

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    One year later: September 11 and the Internet

    This report contains the first scholarly studies built around analysis of hundreds of Web sites that have been cached in the September 11 Web Archives, and makes clear that no event in the Web era has so dominated so many Web sites in such a short, intense period of time.

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.