America’s standing in the world is at a low ebb. Once described as the indispensable nation, the United States is now seen as withdrawn and inward-looking, a reluctant and unreliable partner at a dangerous moment for the world. The coronavirus pandemic has only made things worse. … This is not […] Read more »
Pandemic PollWatch: Attitudes toward school reopening
The approach of the new school year is driving a global debate about how societies should provide for children’s education as the coronavirus pandemic continues. In most countries, majorities are not comfortable about sending their children back into in-person classrooms, even though there are concerns about remote learning and the […] Read more »
Hong Kong Police Raid Pollster on Eve of Pro-Democracy Camp Primary
The Hong Kong police raided the office of an independent polling institute on Friday, on the eve of a primary vote for the city’s pro-democracy camp, raising concerns of official interference in a campaign for the local legislature. … The polling organization, the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute, planned […] Read more »
Young people exposed to an epidemic have less trust in political institutions for the rest of their lives
… In a new paper, we provide the first evidence on the effects of epidemics on political trust. We use individual-level data on confidence in political institutions and leaders from the 2006-2018 Gallup World Polls (GWP), fielded in nearly 140 countries annually. Our data cover some 750,000 respondents from 142 […] Read more »
Why are similar countries experiencing COVID-19 so differently?
The global COVID-19 pandemic goes on and on, but not every country is experiencing the virus in the same way. As summer arrives, some countries are seeing much higher rates of new infections than others, and the United States is part of a group that is not faring especially well. […] Read more »
Rattled by a Pandemic, People Turn to Leaders — Any Leaders
As world leaders grapple with when and how to safely reopen their countries, many are also facing a political problem: how to maintain support as they oversee tanking economies, stifling restrictions and staggering death tolls. … Whether they realize it or not, such leaders have a powerful force on their […] Read more »