56% of Americans say the NSA’s monitoring of the phone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable anti-terror tactic. Americans have supported government efforts to investigate terrorist threats, even at the expense of personal privacy, since 2006.
So far, public interest in a trio of controversies connected to the Obama administration remains limited. Republicans are following the stories much more closely.
Nearly three-quarters of U.S. Catholics say they are happy with the selection of Pope Francis. But they are divided over how big a change he represents for the church.
U.S. Catholics see sex abuse as the church’s most important problem and charity as its most important contribution.
Three-quarters of American Catholics have a favorable view of Pope Benedict XVI, but many also express a desire for change.
Mitt Romney is clearly the candidate the public says they are hearing the most news about, while mentions of Sarah Palin have plummeted over the past two weeks.
A 57%-majority says elected officials just get caught more often because they are under greater scrutiny. About two-in-ten (19%), on the other hand, say elected officials have lower moral standards than ordinary Americans.
Anthony Weiner's media coverage was more than double the attention devoted to President Obama.
Generally, the issues matter most in voters' judgments about presidential candidates, but personality, character and values are not far behind -- and especially so in primary elections.
American religious institutions have been at the center of many legal controversies in recent years. These and related lawsuits raise complex constitutional questions that have been troubling American courts for more than a century. Are legal disputes involving churches and other religious institutions constitutionally different from those involving their secular counterparts, and if so, how?
