Nate Cohn, who covers politics and polling for the New York Times, wrote an article last month (6/3/22) comparing the results of national polls with actual ballot measures in states. His major theme was that national polls may be unreliable when they show high levels of support for various policies. […] Read more »
Polls vs. initiative results
Last week, The New York Times’s astute chief political analyst, Nate Cohn, raised serious doubts about polling on background checks for gun purchasers and, by extension, about the efficacy of issue polling generally. The heart of his case: “When voters in four Democratic-leaning states got the opportunity to enact expanded […] Read more »
Why Polling on Gun Control Gets It Wrong
In calling for Republicans to pass gun safety measures like expanded background checks, Democrats point to polls that show most Americans support the idea. They aren’t wrong about the polling. In fact, some polls show that over 90 percent of Americans support expanded checks. Polling, however, does not tell the […] Read more »
Voters Say They Want Gun Control. Their Votes Say Something Different.
It’s one of the most puzzling questions for Democrats in American politics: Why is the political system so unresponsive to gun violence? Expanded background checks routinely receive more than 80 percent or 90 percent support in polling. Yet gun control legislation usually gets stymied in Washington and Republicans never seem […] Read more »
Why Republicans feel little political pressure for stricter gun control
The fatal shooting of 19 children and two adults on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas, has shocked the country, evoking memories of other tragic school shootings such as Columbine, Newtown and Parkland, and renewing calls for Congress to do something. But the response to those calls from many Republican lawmakers is […] Read more »
California: Most Voters Say ‘We Know Best’
Most California voters express confidence in their collective wisdom when it comes to making public policy at the ballot box. They are also firm in their belief that voters’ past decisions on a range of initiatives have had good outcomes. These May PPIC Survey findings come at a time when […] Read more »