Trust is an essential elixir for public life and neighborly relations, and when Americans think about trust these days, they worry. Two-thirds of adults think other Americans have little or no confidence in the federal government. Majorities believe the public’s confidence in the U.S. government and in each other is […] Read more »
How Americans see the future of space exploration, 50 years after the first moon landing
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which was the first time humans set foot on the moon. The United States remains the only country to have put people on the moon, and, as of 2018, the large majority of Americans consider it essential that […] Read more »
Why Do Opinion Leaders Misjudge Public Attitudes?
Last week, Dina Smeltz, Jordan Tama, and I had a piece in the Monkey Cage on the results of our 2018 survey of 588 foreign policy opinion leaders. We found that these opinion leaders misestimated public attitudes on (1) US engagement in the world, (2) support for trade, (3) support […] Read more »
Majorities of U.S. veterans, public say the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were not worth fighting
Nearly 18 years since the start of the war in Afghanistan and 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Iraq, majorities of U.S. military veterans say those wars were not worth fighting, according to a new Pew Research Center survey of veterans. A parallel survey of American adults finds that […] Read more »
Confidence in Organized Religion Remains Low
Americans’ confidence in the church or organized religion continues to erode, with 36% now saying they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in organized religion, establishing another new low point in Gallup’s trend. CONT. Justin McCarthy, Gallup Read more »
Americans Oppose Killing Civilians. Reports Saying Otherwise Are Wrong.
… Basically, Sagan’s team found Trump supporters are happy to bomb foreigners. Why the authors want to focus on (or have the media focus on) the minority of voters who would support war crimes over the large majority of Americans that don’t is unclear. But what they find “disturbing” is […] Read more »