by jpitney | Jun 26, 2021 | Civility, Public Opinion
From the Survey Center on American Life: Although political disagreements are common, few Americans report having stopped talking to or being friends with someone because of their views about government or politics. Only 15 percent of the public have ended a...
by jpitney | Jun 24, 2021 | Congress, Public Opinion
Lydia Saad at Gallup: While Americans’ support for Biden is holding firm, their approval of Congress slipped to 26% this month, from 31% in May. It is now 10 points below this year’s high of 36% recorded in March, around the time Congress passed...
by jpitney | May 26, 2021 | Civic Education, civic virtue, Civility, Public Opinion
From More in Common, Two Stories of Distrust in America: Interpersonal distrust stems from an uncertainty around someone’s motivations and predictability. The root of this uncertainty is the perception that the other person is different and does not share opinions,...
by jpitney | May 19, 2021 | Public Opinion, Youth
From the Harvard Youth Poll, Spring 2021: In the fall of 2017, only 31% of young Americans said they were hopeful about the future of America; 67% were fearful. Nearly four years later, we find that 56% have hope. While the hopefulness of young whites has increased 11...
by jpitney | Apr 24, 2021 | Civil Rights, Crime, Public Opinion
Michael Javen Fortner at City Journal: In a 2019 Pew survey, 44 percent of blacks reported being “unfairly stopped by police” because of their race; 54 percent said, “No, has not happened to me.” In a Monmouth poll taken after Floyd’s death, 44 percent of...
by jpitney | Apr 20, 2021 | Civility, Democracy, Polarization, Public Opinion
Nate Cohn at NYT: This threat to democracy has a name: sectarianism. It’s not a term usually used in discussions about American politics. It’s better known in the context of religious sectarianism — like the hostility between Sunnis and Shia in Iraq. Yet a growing...
