breaking news: American public opinion growing less cretinous
attitudes-1987-2007> Trends in Political Values and Core Attitudes: 1987-2007
Political Landscape More Favorable To Democrats March 22, 2007 Increased public support for the social safety net, signs of growing = public concern about income inequality, and a diminished appetite for = assertive national security policies have improved the political = landscape for the Democrats as the 2008 presidential campaign gets = underway. At the same time, many of the key trends that nurtured the Republican = resurgence in the mid-1990s have moderated, according to Pew’s = longitudinal measures of the public’s basic political, social and = economic values. The proportion of Americans who support traditional = social values has edged downward since 1994, while the proportion of = Americans expressing strong personal religious commitment also has = declined modestly. Even more striking than the changes in some core political and social = values is the dramatic shift in party identification that has = occurred during the past five years. In 2002, the country was equally = divided along partisan lines: 43% identified with the Republican = Party or leaned to the GOP, while an identical proportion said they = were Democrats. Today, half of the public (50%) either identifies as = a Democrat or says they lean to the Democratic Party, compared with = 35% who align with the GOP. Yet the Democrats’ growing advantage in party identification is = tempered by the fact that the Democratic Party’s overall standing = with the public is no better than it was when President Bush was = first inaugurated in 2001. Instead, it is the Republican Party that = has rapidly lost public support, particularly among political = independents. Faced with an unpopular president who is waging an = increasingly unpopular war, the proportion of Americans who hold a = favorable view of the Republican Party stands at 41%, down 15 points = since January 2001. But during that same period, the proportion = expressing a positive view of Democrats has declined by six points, = to 54%. The study of the public’s political values and attitudes by the Pew = Research Center for the People & the Press =96 the most recent in a = series of such reports dating back to 1987 =96 finds a pattern of = rising support since the mid-1990s for government action to help = disadvantaged Americans. More Americans believe that the government = has a responsibility to take care of people who cannot take care of = themselves, and that it should help more needy people even if it = means going deeper into debt. These attitudes have undergone a major change since 1994, when the = Republicans won control of Congress. In particular, 54% say the = government should help more needy people, even if it adds to the = nation’s debt, up from just 41% in 1994. All party groups are now = more supportive of government aid to the poor, though Republicans = remain much less supportive than Democrats or independents if it = means adding to the deficit. Despite these favorable shifts in support for more government help = for the poor, 69% agree that “poor people have become too dependent = on government assistance programs.” Still, the number in agreement = has been declining over the past decade. More broadly, the poll finds that money worries are rising. More than = four-in-ten (44%) say they “don’t have enough money to make ends = meet,” up from 35% in 2002. While a majority continues to say they = are “pretty well satisfied” with their personal financial situation, = that number is lower than it has been in more than a decade. In addition, an increasing number of Americans subscribe to the = sentiment “today it’s really true that the rich just get richer while = the poor get poorer.” Currently, 73% concur with that sentiment, up = from 65% five years ago. Growing concerns about income inequality are = most apparent among affluent Americans; large percentages of lower- = income people have long held this opinion. The new survey also shows that the deep partisan fissure in values = and core attitudes revealed in Pew’s previous survey in 2003 has = narrowed slightly. But Republicans and Democrats remain far apart in = their fundamental attitudes toward government, national security, = social values, and even in evaluations of personal finances. Three-in- = four (74%) Republicans with annual incomes of less than $50,000 say = they are “pretty well satisfied” with their financial conditions = compared with 40% of Democrats and 39% of independents with similar = incomes. Even as Americans express greater commitment to solving domestic = problems, they voice more hesitancy about global engagement. They = also are less disposed than five years ago to favor a strong military = as the best way to ensure peace. In 2002, less than a year after the = Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, more than six-in-ten agreed with the = statement, “The best way to ensure peace is through military = strength.” Today, about half express similar confidence in military = power. The latest values survey, conducted Dec. 12, 2006-Jan. 9, 2007, finds = a reversal of increased religiosity observed in the mid-1990s. While = most Americans remain religious in both belief and practice, the = percentage expressing strong religious beliefs has edged down since = the 1990s. And the survey finds an increase in the relatively small = percentage of the public that can be categorized as secular. In Pew = surveys since the beginning of 2006, 12% identified themselves as = unaffiliated with a religious tradition. That compares with 8% in the = Pew values survey in 1987. This change appears to be generational in = nature, with each new generation displaying lower levels of religious = commitment than the preceding one. In addition, political differences in levels of religious commitment = are larger now than in years past. Republicans are at least as = religious as they were 10 or 20 years ago, based on the numbers = expressing belief in God, citing prayer as important, and other = measures. By contrast, Democrats express lower levels of commitment = than in the late 1980s and 1990s. At the same time, the survey records further declines in traditional = social attitudes. The poll finds greater public acceptance of = homosexuality and less desire for women to play traditional roles in = society. Both represent a continuation of trends that have been = apparent over the past 20 years, and have occurred mostly among older = people. The younger generations have changed the least, as they have = consistently expressed more accepting points of view over the past 20 = years. Divides on some once-contentious issues also appear to be closing. In = 1995, 58% said they favored affirmative action programs designed to = help blacks, women, and other minorities get better jobs. That = percentage has risen steadily since, and stands at 70% in the current = poll. Gains in support for affirmative action have occurred to almost = the same extent among Republicans (+8), Democrats (+10), and = Independents (+14). Changes nationally in the beliefs of Americans on social, political = and religious values tell a revealing but incomplete story. The = proportion of voters who hold certain politically relevant core = beliefs varies widely from state to state, further complicating an = already complicated 2008 election campaign. For example, politically = conservative, white evangelical Christians make up 10% of all = Republicans and Republican leaners in New Hampshire =96 currently the = first state to hold its presidential primaries in 2008 =96 but 39% of = all GOP partisans in South Carolina where primary voters go to the = polls several days later. On the Democratic side, the proportion of = Democrats who say they are politically liberal ranges from 38% in = California to 25% in South Carolina. (See pages 10-11 for a fuller = ideological profiling of key primary states) Among other key findings from the wide-ranging survey: corporations. Johnson & Johnson and Google have the most positive = images of 23 corporations tested. At the bottom of the list: = Halliburton, which is viewed favorably by fewer than half of those = familiar enough with the company to give it a rating. class lines. Two-thirds of working-class Democrats have a favorable = view of Wal-Mart compared with 45% of professional-class Democrats. are snooping into their lives. About three-in-four (74%) say they are = concerned that business corporations are collecting too much personal = information while 58% express the same concern about the government. (57%) say they have a good deal of confidence in the wisdom of the = American people when it comes to making political decisions. = Similarly, the proportion who agrees that Americans “can always find = a way to solve our problems” has dropped 16 points in the past five = years. a third (34%) agree with the statement, “most elected officials care = what people like me think,” nearly matching the 20-year low of 33% = recorded in 1994 and a 10-point drop since 2002. than do other Americans. At the same time, young adults express the = least interest in voting and other forms of political participation. eight-in-ten (83%) agree that “it’s all right for blacks and whites = to date,” up six percentage points since 2003 and 13 points from a = Pew survey conducted 10 years ago. immigrants. Nearly seven-in-ten (68%) conservative Republicans say = immigrants threaten American customs, compared with 43% of GOP = moderates and liberals. Democrats have long been divided along = ideological lines, but the GOP previously had not been.